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LECTURES  ON 
THE  AMERICAN  CIVIL  WAR 


•y^yi^- 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    .    BOSTON    ■    CHICAGO 
DALLAS   •   SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limitto 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MRLBOURNB 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO,  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


/ 


'//^ 


LECTURES 


ON   THE 


AMERICAN  CIVIL  WAR 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF   OXFORD    IN    EASTER  AND 

TRINITY  TERMS  1912 


BY 
JAMES   FORD   RHODES,  LL.D.,  D.Litt. 

LECTURER  ON  THE  HISTORY  AND  INSTITUTIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

OP     AMERICA,      1912;       AL.HOR     OF     THE      HISTORY      OP      THE 

UNITEU     STATES      ..KOM      THE      COMI'KOMISE     OF     18S0 

TO  THE   FINAL   RfcSTORATION   OF  HOME  RULE  AT 

THE  SOUTH  IN  1877  ;   HISTORICAL  ESSAYS 


Nfto  gotJt 

THE  MAOMILLAN  COMPANY 

1913 

Alt  rigKU  reitrvtd 


E  H  ^.  \ 


-1  f 


155778 


COPTRIOHT,   1913, 

By  the  macmillan  company. 


S«t  up  and  clectiotyped.    Published  January,  191J. 


KatfBooti  Tfttn 

J.  8.  CusblDK  Co.  —  Itvrwtck  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mats.,  U.S.A. 


« 


Uo 


CHARLES  HARDING   FIRTH 

BEaiUa    PROFESSOR   OK    MODKRN    HISTORY 

IX  THE 

UNIVEK8ITY   OF   OXFORD 


PREFACE 


I  READ  these  Lectures  in  the  Schools  before  the 
University  of  Oxford  during  May  1912.  They 
are  printed  as  read  with  no  very  important  ex- 
ceptions. A  few  paragraplis  and  sentences  as 
originally  written  were  omitted  in  the  reading 
to  keep  within  the  conventional  fifty-five  min- 
utes;  these  are  here  restored.  The  account  of 
Pickett's  Charge  in  Lecture  III  has  been  ex- 
panded for  the  sake  of  greater  clearness ;  likewise 
my  story  of  Grant's  Vicksburg  campaign  which, 
as  read  in  Oxford,  was  excessively  compressed. 

The  work  of  literary  revision  of  the  Lectures 
has  been  entrusted  to  my  son,  Daniel  P.  Rhodes, 
to  whom,  amongst  other  changes,  I  owe  the  re- 
writing of  the  Pickett  Charge  and  the  Vicksburg 
campaign. 

Footnote  references,  in  which  only  volume  and 
page  numbers  are  given,  are  to  my  History  of  the 
United  States  from  the  Compromise  of  1850  to 
the  Final  Restoration  of  Home  Rule  at  the  South 
in  1877. 

I  have  had  the  further  benefit  of  a  critical  sur- 
vey by  David  M.  Matteson ;   to   him   I  owe   the 

vii 


VIU 


PREFACE 


plan  of  the  map  which  shows  the  country  at  two 
different  dates  —  an  undertaking  fraught  with  con- 
siderable difficulties.  For  the  careful  execution 
of  the  map  I  am  indebted  to  George  P.  Brett. 

The  syllabus  of  the  Lectures  serves  as  a  Table 
of  Contents. 


Boston,  December,  1912. 


CONTENTS 


LECTURE  I 

Antecedeitts  of  the  American  Civil  War  1850-1860 
Cause  of  the  War,  slavery.  Illustrated  by  the  pre- 
vious tariff  disput*  and  the  later  one  about  free  silver. 
The  existence  of  negro  slavery  a  grave  condition. 
Antecedents  of  the  Civil  War.  Affairs  in  1850. 
Dispute  regarding  status  of  territory  acquired  from 
Mexico.  California  decided  against  slavery.  This 
decision  disappointed  the  South.  Relative  greater 
progress  of  the  North.  Difference  of  opinion  regard- 
ing slavery  North  and  South.  Abolitionist  agitation. 
Demands  of  the  South.  Compromise  of  1850.  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Law  induced  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin.  This 
novel's  great  influence.  Missouri  Compromise  of  1820 
repealed  by  action  of  Senator  Douglas.  The  Repeal 
considered  an  outrage  by  the  North  and  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  the  Republican  party.  Political  ex- 
citement in  1854.  Repeal  brought  on  a  contest  be- 
tween slavery  and  freedom  for  the  possession  of 
Kansas.  Murder  and  robbery.  Kansas  of  1856  wel- 
tered in  blood  and  anarchy.  Senate  and  House  dif- 
fered about  Kansas.  Presidential  canvass  of  1856. 
Democrats  elected  Buchanan.  Unscrupulous  effort 
to  make  Kansas  a  slave  State  by  the  Lecompton  Con- 
stitution. Douglas  set  himself  in  opposition  to  his 
party.  Kansas  by  popular  vote  decided  for  freedom. 
Lincoln  contested  the  senatorship  of  Illinois  with 
Douglas.  His  House-divided-against-itself  doctrine. 
Character  of  Lincoln.  Lincoln-Douglas  debates  in 
Illinois  attracted  the  attention  of  the  country.  Doug- 
las elected  senator.  Irrepressible  conflict  between 
freedom  and  slavery.  John  Brown's  attack  on  slav- 
ery. Excitement  in  Congress.  Breach  in  the  Demo- 
cratic party  1860.    Lincoln's  election  as  President. 


PAen 
1-64 


CONTENTS 


LECTURE  II 

From  Lincoln's  Election,  1860,  to  his  Proclamation 
OF  Emancipation,  1862 

Lincoln's  election  a  sectional  triumph.    On  account 
of  it  South  Carolina  seceded.    Congress  tried  to  pre- 
sent further  secessions.     The  Crittenden  Compromise 
would  probably  have  stayed  the  secession  movement. 
Congress  failed  to  adopt  it  on  account  of  Lincoln's 
objection.    How  the  Civil  War  might  have  been  pre- 
vented.     Six  cotton  States  followed  South  Carolina's 
example  and  adopted  ordinances  of  secession.     The 
apology  for  secession.     Right  of  secession  invoked 
for  the  protection  of  slavery.    As  a  political  expedient, 
secession  was  unwise.     Secession  a  popular  movement, 
impelling  the  leaders.     Southern  Confederacy  formed 
by  seven  cotton  States.    Jefferson  Davis  elected  presi- 
dent.   Corner-stone  of  new  government  rested  upon 
slavery.     Difficulty  of  abolishing  slavery.    Choice  of 
the  North.    Peaceable  separation  or  war.    Lincoln  in- 
augurated.    South  fired  on    United  States  flag  at 
Fort  Sumter.     Uprising  of  the  North.     Similar  up- 
rising in   the  South.     Secession  of  four  additional 
Southern  States.    Twenty-three  States  against  eleven. 
Twenty-two  million  people  against  nine  million.    Ad- 
vantages and  Disadvantages  of  each  section.    The 
great  asset  of  the  North,  Lincoln ;  of  the  South,  Rob- 
ert E.  Lee.    Character  of  Lee.     Defeat  of  the  North- 
ern army  at  Bull  Run.    Second  uprising  of  the  North. 
General  McClellan.     Ulysses  S.  Grant's  victory  in  the 
Southwest.     Fight  between  the   Merrimac  and  the 
Monitor.     Capture  of  New  Orleans.    Lee  commander 
of  Army  of  Xortliern  Virginia.     Caused  the  failure 
of  McCiellan's  campaign  against  Richmond.     Dejec 
tion  in  the  North.     Lee  gave   the  Northern  army 
another  crushing  defeat.    Alarm  for  the  safety  of 
Washington.     Lee  invaded  Maryland.      McClellan 
defeated    I^e  at   Antietam.      Action    of    Congress 
against  slavery.    Lincoln's  Proclamation  of  Emanci- 
pation. 


PAom 


65-1.30 


CONTENTS  3d 

LECTURE  III 

FASn 

Froh  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  1862,  to 

Surrender  at  Appomattox,  1865   .        .        .  131-195 

First  response  of  the  country  to  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation  unfavorable.  Policy  completed  by 
Proclamation  of  January  1,  1863.  Proclamation  did 
not  excite  servile  insurrection.  Lincoln  pleaded  for 
gradual  emancipation  with  compensation.  McClellan 
removed.  Burnside  met  with  a  crushing  defeat  by 
Lee.  Depression  of  Lincoln.  Loss  of  confidence  in 
him.  Lee  defeated  Hooker,  Burnside's  successor  in 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Lee  invaded 
Pennsylvania.  Meade  succeeded  Hooker.  Defeated 
Lee  at  Gettysburg.  Grant  took  Vicksburg.  Eng- 
land's attitude  to  the  Civil  War.  Sympathy  with  the 
North  until  Battle  of  Bull  Run.  William  H.  Russell's 
letters  to  the  Times  swayed  opinion  in  favor  of  the 
North.  Battle  of  Bull  Run.  Influence  of  the  cotton 
famine.  Russell  compelled  to  leave  America.  Seiz- 
ure of  Mason  and  Slidell.  Jubilation  at  the  North. 
Sensation  in  England.  Demand  for  the  surrender  of 
Mason  and  Slidell.  Demand  complied  with.  Neglect 
of  England  to  detain  war  steamers  Florida  and  Ala- 
bama.  General  belief  in  England  that  the  North 
could  not  conquer  the  South.  Movement  toward  in- 
terference. Gladstone's  Newcastle  speech,  October  7, 
1862.  Decision  that  the  existing  policy  of  non-inter- 
vention should  be  continued.  Sympathy  of  the  com- 
mon people  with  Lincoln's  policy  of  emancipation. 
Earl  Russell's  friendly  neutrality  in  1863.  The  case 
of  the  iron  clad  rams  at  Birkenhead.  Earl  Russell 
detained  the  rams.  Grant  a  great  general.  Lincoln's 
power.  Grant  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. In  his  first  campaign  failed  to  crush  Lee's  army, 
but  his  own  was  shattered.  Gloom  and  dejection  at 
the  North  succeeded  by  joy  at  Farragut's  and  Sher- 
man's victories.  Lincoln  reelected  President.  Grant 
forced  Lee's  surrender  at  Appomattox.  Assassination 
of  Lincoln.  Lee  the  representative  of  the  Soutliern 
cause.    Lincoln  necessary  for  the  victory  of  the  North. 


LECTURES  ON  THE  AMERICAN 
CIVIL  WAR 


LECTURE  I 

ANTECEDENTS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CIVIL  WAR 

1850-1860 

Gardiner's  title  "  History  of  Our  Great 
Civil  War"  has  always  struck  me  as  apt. 
A  historian  so  careful  in  his  use  of  adjectives 
could  not  have  adopted  one  so  expressive 
without  reflection.  The  English  Civil  War 
was  great  in  itself  and  its  consequences, 
and,  though  it  may  not  convey  as  important 
lessons  to  the  whole  civilized  world  as  did 
that  one  of  which  Thucydides  was  the  his- 
torian, vet  for  its  influence  on  American 
colonial  life  and  on  the  development  of  our 
history  to  the  formation  of  our  Constitution, 
it  is  for  us  a  more  pregnant  study.  More- 
over Gardiner's  history  of  it  is  a  model  for 
the  historian  of  our  Civil  War. 


2  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR,  SLAVERY 

There  is  risk  in  referring  any  historic 
event  to  a  single  cause.     Lecky  entitled  his 
celebrated  chapter,  «  Causes  of  the  French 
Revolution."     Social  and  political,  as  well 
as  religious,  reasons,  according  to  Gardiner, 
brought  on  tlie   Great  Civil  War.*     Thu- 
cydides,  on  the  other  hand,  though  he  did 
indeed  set  forth  the  "  grounds  of  quarrel," 
stated  his  own  belief  that  "  the  real  though 
unavowfcd  cause"   of  the  war   was   "the 
growth  of  the  Athenian  power."   And  of  the 
American  Civil  War  it  may  safely  be  asserted 
that  there  was  a  single  cause,  slavery.     In 
1862  John  Stuart  Mill  in  Fraser's  Magazine,^ 
and  Professor   Caimes  in  a  pamphlet  on 
the   Slave  Power,  presented  this   view   to 
the  English  public  with  force,  but  it  is  al- 
ways difficult  to  get  to  the  bottom   of  a 
foreign  dispute,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that 
many  failed  to  comprehend  the  real  nature 

»  Gardiner's  Great  Civil  War,  1, 11. 

•^  Dr.  O.  AV.  Holmes  wrote  to  J.  L.  Motley,  from  Boston,  March 
8, 1862 :  "John  Stuart  Mill's  article  in  Fraser  has  delighted  people 
he...  more  than  anything  for  a  good  while.  I  suppose  his  readers 
to      the  best  class  of  Englishmen."    Motley's  Letters,  II,  69. 


THE  TARIFF  DISPUTE  OF   1832  3 

of  the  conflict.  When  in  July,  1862,  WiUiam 
E.  Forster  said  in  the  House  of  Commons 
that  he  believed  it  was  generally  acknowl- 
edged that  slavery  was  the  cause  of  the  war, 
he  was  answered  with  cries,  "No,  no! "  and 
"  The  tariff!  " »  Because  the  South  was  for 
free  trade  and  the  North  for  a  protective 
tariff  this  was  a  natural  retort,  though  pro- 
ceeding from  a  misconception,  as  a  reference 
to  the  most  acute  tariff  crisis  in  our  history 
will  show. 

In  1832,  South  Carolina,  by  act  of  her 
Convention  legally  called,  declared  that 
the  tariff  acts  passed  by  Congress  in  1828 
and  1832  were  "null,  void,  no  law,"  and 
that  no  duties  enjoined  by  those  acts 
should  be  paid  or  permitted  to  be  paid  in 
the  State  of  South  Carolina.  It  is  a  signifi- 
cant fact  that  she  failed  to  induce  any  of 
her  sister  Southern  States  to  act  with  her. 
By  the  firmness  of  President  Jackson  and 
a  concihatory  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
high  tariff  party  the  act  of  nullification  was 

^  IV,  80. 


*       THE  FREE  SILVER  DISPUTE  OP  ,896 

jerp„ti,.f„,ee,.  but  the  whole  cour. 

Ca  ol.„„  demonstrated  that  the  America, 
dtur''Nr.'^'™'^'"'''Vatarif 

mod,fied  the  geographieal  eharaeter  of  th 
con^oversy      The  production  of  s^llt 

ufacture  of  ,ro„  ,„  »  number  of  Southern 
States  have  caused  their  senators  and  repr" 
sentat,ves  to  listen  kindly  to  pleas  for  „ 
protective  tariff.  ^  '^  " 

««>•«    is   a   farther   illustration    of   the 
umque  character  of  the  divisional  or,  as  we 

'rSer;::^^^— "-'^■ 

sdver,  took  on  a  sectional  character  m  ar 

dwals  b  .       .'"""''  *"■*''  g-'-J  ^'^ndard 

str  devoteVtlT  n- '''"^  *"  *« 
uevotea  to  silver.     But  after  1850 

there  was  no  antislaver,  party  in  the  South 

'  I,  45. 


PRINCIPLE  OF  NATIONALITY  6 

and  men  advocating  even  the  gradual  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  would  not  have  been  suffered 
to  speak.  Again,  in  1896,  natural  causes 
had  play ;  they  took  from  the  dispute  about 
the  money  standard  its  sectional  character. 
The  disappearance  of  the  grasshoppers  that 
ate  the  wheat  and  maize,  the  breaking  of  the 
severe  drought  of  the  preceding  years,  the 
extension  further  west  of  the  rain  belt,  good 
crops  of  cotton,  maize  and  wheat  with  a  good 
demand,  brought  prosperity  to  the  farmers 
and  with  it  a  belief  that  the  gold  standard 
best  served  their  interests. 

Some  of  our  younger  writers,  impressed 
with  the  principle  of  nationality  that  pre- 
vailed in  Europe  during  the  last  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  have  read  into  our  con- 
flict European  conditions  and  asserted  that 
the  South  stood  for  disunion  in  her  doctrine 
of  States'  rights  and  that  the  war  came  be- 
cause the  North  took  up  the  gage  of  battle 
to  make  of  the  United  States  a  nation.  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  show  the  potency  of 
the  Union  sentiment  as  an  aid  to  the  de- 


6 


SLAVERY  A  GRAVE  PROBLEM 


struction  of  slavery,  but  when  events  are 
reduced  to  their  hist  elements,  it  plainly 
appears  that  the  doctrine  of  States'  rights 
and  secession  was  invoked  by  the  South  to 
save  slavery,  and  by  a  natural  antagonism, 
the  North  upheld  the  Union  because  the 
fight  for  its  preservation  was  the  first  step 
toward  the  abolition  of  negro  servitude. 
The  question  may  be  isolated  by  the  incon- 
trovertible statement  that  if  the  negro  had 
never  been  brought  to  America,  our  Civil 
War  could  not  have  occurred. 

The  problem  was  a  tougher  one  than  had 
confronted  Komc  even  if  we  regard  as  justi- 
fied ^lommsen's  dire  arraignment  of  slavery 
in  his  brilliant  chapter.  "  Riches  and  mis- 
ery," he  wrote,  "in  close  league  drove 
the  Italians  out  of  Italy  and  filled  the 
Peninsula  partly  with  swarms  of  slaves, 
partly  with  awful  silence."  ^  In  the  South, 
the  slaves  belonged  to  an  inferior  race ;  the 
gulf  is  deep  between  the  white  race  and  the 
black.     I  wish,  said  James  Madison,  that 

» I,  3«2. 


"^ 


"4 


ANTECEDENTS  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR        7 

I  might  work  a  miracle.  I  would  make  all 
the  blacks  white.  I  could  then  in  a  day 
aboli-sh  slavery.*  Just  before  the  war,  a 
lunatic  in  an  asylum  near  Boston,  who  took 
great  interest  in  the  different  proposed  com- 
promises and  solutions  of  the  insoluble  con- 
troversy, finally  announced,  I  have  found 
it!  I  know  what  will  prevent  the  war. 
Countless  pails  of  whitewash,  innumerable 
brushes;  make  the  negroes  white! 

I  purpose  devoting  my  first  lecture  to  the 
antecedents  of  our  Civil  War  and  I  shall  be- 
gin the  account  with  a  statement  of  condi- 
tions in  1850.  The  issue  of  the  war  with 
Mexico  gave  the  United  States  a  large 
amount  of  new  territory,  known  then  as 
California  and  New  Mexico,  which  under 
the  Mexican  law  were  free  from  slavery  and 
ought  to  remain  so  unless  this  condition 
were  removed  by  express  enactment.  But 
Calhoun,  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  with 
ascendant  influence  over  the  Southern  mind, 
had  a  theory  to  fit  the  occasion.     He  said 

»  I,  383. 


v.*"! 


8     CALIFORNIA  DECIDED  AGAINST  SLAVERY 

that  when  the  Hovereip^nty  of  Mexico  was 
succeeded  by  that  of  the  United  States,  tlie 
American  Constitution  applied  to  the  new 
territory,  and  as  it  recognized  slavery,  so  it 
permitted  slave  owners  to  take  their  slaves 
into  California  and  New  Mexico;  in  other 
words  it  legalized  slavery.^  This  new 
doctrine  was  eagerly  embraced  by  the 
South.  But  the  North,  believing  that  sla- 
very was  wrong,  demanded  that  the  general 
government  prohibit  it  in  the  new  territory, 
and  although  the  letter  of  the  Constitution 
was  silent  on  this  subject,  legislative  prece- 
dent amply  supported  this  demand  as 
strictly  constitutional.  California  for  her- 
self resolved  the  question.  The  discovery 
of  gold  promoted  the  settlement  of  this 
territory  by  a  mass  of  seekers  of  fortune, 
many  of  them  outcasts  and  vagrants,  while 
others,  though  rough,  hardy  men,  loving 
cards  and  drink,  had  a  native  sense  of  jus- 
tice ./hich  demanded  fair  play.  The  speedy 
settlement  of  this  hitherto  unknown  country 

» I,  94. 


^ 


CALIFORNIA'S  FREE  CONSTITUTION        g 

led  Dc  Quincey  to  say,  "  She  is  going  ahead 
at  a  rate  that  beats  Sindbad  and  Gulliver";* 
and  Bret  Harte  has  feelingly  portrayed  the 
early  settlers    and    their    surroundings  in 
"  Tales  of  the  Argonauts,"  "  Luck  of  Roar- 
ing Camp  "  and  "  Outcasts  of  Poker  Flat." 
The  quasi-military  government  and  tlie  sur- 
vival of  the  Mexican  municipal  authority 
did  not  prevent  California  from  reaching  the 
verge  of  anarchy  anu      majority  were  ear- 
nest that  Congress  should  institute  a  stable 
territorial  government,  which  it  still  failed  to 
do  because  of  the  difterence  about  slavery. 
Eventually  the  better  class  of  immigrants, 
who   were  constantly  increasing,  took   the 
lead  in   forming  a  State  government.     A 
Convention    regularly    chosen    adopted    a 
Constitution  modelled  after  the  constitutions 
of  New  York  and  Iowa  and  no  objection 
whatever  was  made  to  the  clause  in  the  bill 
of  rights,  which  forever  prohibited  slavery  in 
the  State.     This  was  done  from  no  moral 
motive,  as  men  from  the  South,  believing 

» I,  113. 


10       CALIFORNIA  DESIRED  STATEHOOD 


that  slavery  was  right,  joined  with  North- 
erners, who  beUeved  it  wrong,  in  this  pro- 
hibition, because  they  thought  it  would  be 
out  of  place  in  the  new  country.     As  an  old 
mountaineer  argued   in  a  harangue  to  the 
crowd,    "In   a  country  where  every  white 
man  made  a  slave  of  himself  there  was  no 
use  in  keeping  niggers."  ^     Armed  with  her 
excellent  Constitution,  California  then  pro- 
ceeded  in   a   regular    manner  to   make   a 
natural  and  just  demand.     In  the  parlance 
of  the   day,  she  knocked  at  the  doors  of 
Congress  for  admission  into  the  Union,  but 
failed  to  receive  a  general  welcome  for  the 
sole  reason  that  she  had  prohibited  slavery. 
As   slavery   was   out   of  tune   with    the 
nineteenth   century,    the    States   that   held 
fast  to    it    played   a   losing   game.      This 
was   evident  from   tlie   greater  increase  of 
population  at  the  North.     When  Washing- 
ton became  President  (1789),  the  population 
of  the  two  sections  was  nearly  equal,  but 
thirty-one  years  later,  in   a  total  of  less 

'  1, 115. 


NORTH  GAINED  ON  SOUT; 


11 


than  ten  millions  there  was  a  difference  of 
667,000  in  favor  of  the  North,  and  when, 
twelve  years  later  still,  the  immigration 
from  Europe  began,  the  preponderance  of 
the  North  continued  to  increase.  The 
South  repelled  immigrants  for  the  reason 
that  freemen  would  not  work  with  slaves. 
In  the  House  of  Representatives,  chosen 
on  the  basis  of  numerical  population,  the 
North,  at  each  decennial  census  and  appor- 
tionment, gained  largely  on  the  South, 
whose  stronghold  was  the  Senate.  Each 
State,  irrespective  of  population,  had  two 
senators,  and  since  the  formation  of  the 
Constitution,  States  had  been  admitted  in 
pairs  by  a  tacit  agreement,  each  free  State 
being  counterbalanced  by  a  slave  State. 
The  admission  of  California  which  would 
disturb  this  equilibrium  was  resisted  by  the 
South  with  a  spirit  of  determination  made 
bitter  by  disappointment  over  California's 
spontaneous  act.  The  Mexican  War  had 
been  for  the  most  part  a  Southern  war; 
the  South,  as  Lowell  made  Hosea  Biglow 


12        DISAPPOINTMENT  OF  THE  SOUTH 


say,  was  "after  bigger  pens  to  cram  with 
slaves,"  ^  and  now  she  saw  this  magnificent 
domain  of  California  escaping  her  clutches. 
She  had  other  grievances  which,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  man  of  1850  reverencing 
the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  were  un- 
doubtedly well  founded,  but  the  whole  dis- 
pute really  hinged  or  the  belief  of  the 
South  that  slavery  was  right  and  the  belief 
of  the  majority  of  Northerners  that  it  was 
wrong. 

At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Con- 
stitution the  two  sections  were  not  greatly 
at  variance.  A  large  number  of  Southern 
men,  among  them  their  ablest  and  best 
leaders,  thought  slavery  was  a  moral  and 
political  evil  to  be  got  rid  of  gradually.  In 
due  time,  the  foreign  slave  trade  was  pro- 
hibited, but  the  Yankee  invention  of  the 
cotton-gin  -  made  slavery  apparently  profit- 
able in  the  culture  of  cotton  on  the  virgin 
soil  of  the  new  States  in  the  South ;  and 
Southern   opinion   changed.      From   being 


» I,  87. 


a  I,  25. 


f 


GARRISON  AND  WEBSTER  13 

regarded  as  an  evil,  slavery  began  to  be 
looked  upon  as  the  only  possible  condition 
of  the  existence  of  the  two  races  side  by 
side  and  by  1850  the  feeling  had  grown 
to  be  that  slavery  was  "  no  evil,  no  scourge, 
but  a  great  religious,  social  and  moral 
blessing."^  As  modern  society  required 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  the 
slave  system  of  the  South,  so  the  argument 
ran,  was  superior  to  the  industrial  system  of 
England,  France  and  the  North. 

In  1831,  William  Lloyd  Garrison  began 
his  crusade  against  slavery.  In  a  weekly 
journal,  the  Liberator,  published  in  Boston, 
he  preached  with  fearless  emphasis  that 
slavery  was  wrong  and,  though  his  imme- 
diate followers  were  never  many,  he  set 
people  to  thinking  about  the  question,^  so 
that  six  years  later  Daniel  Webster,  one  of 
our  greatest  statesmen  with  a  remarkable 
power  of  expression,  said,  the  subject  of 
slavery  "  has  not  only  attracted   attention 

•  Webster's  Seventh  of  March  Speech,  Works,  V  338 
»I,53. 


.-#» 


14 


SLAVERY  AT  THE  SOUTH 


as  a  question  of  politics,  but  it  has  struck 
a  far  deeper-toned  chord.  It  has  arrested 
the  rehgious  feehng  of  the  country ;  it  has 
taken  strong  hold  on  the  consciences  of 
men."  ^  In  the  nineteen  years  before  1850 
the  opinion  constantly  gained  ground  at 
the  North  that  slavery  was  an  evil  and 
that  its  existence  at  the  South  was  a  blot 
on  the  national  honor. 

In  1850,  there  were  at  the  South  347,000 
slaveholders  out  of  a  white  population  of  six 
millions,  but  the  head  and  centre  of  the 
oligarchy  was  to  be  found  amongst  the 
large  planters,  possessors  of  fifty  or  more 
slaves,  whose  elegance,  luxury  and  hos- 
pitality are  recited  in  tales  of  travellers, 
over  whose  estates  and  lives  the  light  of 
romance  and  poetry  has  been  profusely 
shed ;  of  these,  there  were  less  than  eight 
thousand.^  Around  them  clustered  the  fash- 
ionable circles  of  the  cities,  composed  of 
merchants,  doctors  and  lawyers,  a  society 
seen   to   the   best  advantage   in  New  Or- 


» I,  72. 


*  I,  346. 


SLAVERY  AT  THE  SOUTH 


15 


leans,  Charleston  and  Richmond.  The 
men  composing  this  oligarchy  were  high- 
spirited  gentlemen,  with  a  keen  sense  of 
honor  showing  itself  in  hatred  of  political 
corruption,  resentment  of  personal  attack 
by  speech  or  by  pen,  to  the  length  of  the 
fatal  duel  and  a  reverence  for  and  readiness 
to  protect  female  virtue.  Most  of  them 
were  well  educated  and  had  a  taste  for 
reading ;  but  they  avoided  American  litera- 
ture as  emanating  mostly  from  New  Eng- 
land, the  hotbed  of  abolitionism,  and  pre- 
ferred the  earlier  English  literature  to  that 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  But  their  ability 
manifested  itself  not  at  all  in  letters  or  in 
art,  but  ran  entirely  to  law  and  politics,  in 
which  they  were  really  eminent.  English 
travellers  before  the  Civil  War  liked  the 
Southerners  for  their  aristocratic  bearing 
and  enjoyed  their  conversation,  which  was 
not  redolent  of  trade  and  the  dollar,  like 
much  that  they  heard  at  the  North.^  It  is 
obvious  that  men  of  this  stamp  could  not 

»  I,  347,  309,  361 ;  VII,  172. 


^ 


/.** 


16 


COMPROMISE  OF  1850 


be  otherwise  than  irritated  when  Northern 
speeches,  books  and  newspapers  were  full 
of  the  charge  that  they  were  living  in  the 
daily  practice  of  evil,  that  negro  chattel 
slavery  was  cruel,  unjust  and  barbaric. 
This  irritation  expressed  itself  in  recrimina- 
tion and  insolent  demands  at  the  same  time 
that  it  helped  to  bring  them  to  the  behef 
that  property  in  negroes  was  as  right  and 
sacred  as  the  ownership  of  horses  and 
mules. 

In  1850,  the  South  repeatedly  asserted 
that  she  must  have  her  rights  or  she  would 
secede  from  the  Union;  and  her  action 
eleven  years  later  proved  that  this  was  not 
an  idle  threat.  She  would  submit  to  the 
admission  of  California  provided  she  re- 
ceived certain  guarantees.  There  resulted 
the  Compromise  of  1850,  proposed  by  Henry 
Clay  and  supported  by  Daniel  Webster  and 
finally  enacted  by  Congress.*  Under  it 
California  came  in  free.  Slavery  was  not 
prohibited  in  New  Mexico.     Webster  argued 

»I,  122  el  seq. 


FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW 


17 


-■■» 


1 

-a 


m 


that  such   prohibition   was  unnecessary  as 
the  territory  was   not   adapted  to  slavery. 
"I  would  not,"  he  said,  "take   pains  use- 
lessly to  reaffirm  an   ordinance   of  nature, 
nor  to   reenact  the   will  of  God."^      The 
South  obtained  a  more   stringent  Fugitive 
Slave  Law.     Most  of  the  negroes  yearned 
for  freedom,  and,    while    their   notions  of 
geography   were   vague,    they    knew    that 
freedom  lay  in  the  direction    of  the  north 
star,   and  with  that  guidance   a   thousand 
escaped  yearly  into  the   free  States.     The 
rendition    of  fugitive    slaves    was   a  right 
under  the  Constitution,  and   as  the  South 
maintained  that  the  law  of  1793  was  in- 
adequate, she  demanded  one  more  stringent. 
In  the  end,  a  bill  based   on  the  draft  of 
James  Mason  (the  Mason  of  Mason-Shdell 
fame)  was  enacted.     It  ran  counter  to  the 
Roman  maxim   that,    if  a   question    arose 
about  the  civil  status  of  a  person,  he  was 
presumed  to  be  free   until  proved  to  be  a 
slave,  thus  laying  the  burden  of  proof  on 

>I,  147. 


18 


FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW 


the  master  and  giving  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt  to  the  weaker  party.  Under  this 
Act  of  ours  the  negro  had  no  chance :  the 
meshes  of  the  law  were  artfully  contrived 
to  aid  the  master  and  entrap  the  alleged 
slave.  By  an  extraordinary  provision,  the 
commissioner  who  determined  the  matter 
received  a  fee  of  ten  dollars  if  he  adjudged 
the  negro  to  slavery  and  one  half  of  that 
amount  if  he  held  the  fugitive  to  be  a 
freeman.*  The  real  purpose  of  the  law 
was  not  so  much  to  recover  the  runaway 
negroes  as  it  was  to  irritate  the  North  (or, 
in  the  current  figure  of  speech,  to  crack  the 
whip  over  the  heads  of  Northern  men)  by 
its  rigorous  enforcement.  To  this  end  being 
admirably  designed,  it  became  one  of  the 
minor  influences  that  brought  the  North 
to  her  final  resolute  stand  against  the  ex- 
tension of  slavery. 

Mason  was  the  sort  of  man  to  think  that 
he  had  done  a  clever  thing  when,  in  draw- 
ing  an   act  to   enforce   the    constitutional 

»1, 185. 


s 


/si 

s 

i 


UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN  19 

right  of  the  South,  he  made  its  enforcement 
needlessly  irritating  to  the  North.     But  it 
proved  a  menace  and  a  plague  to  the  sec- 
tion it  was  intended   to   benefit.    For  the 
Fugitive     Slave     Law     inspired     Harriet 
Beecher    Stowe    to     write    Uncle    Tom's 
Cabin,   the   greatest   of    American    novels 
which,  in  the  interest  that  it  aroused  and 
the  influence  that  it  exerted,  has  not  unfitly 
been    compared    to    La  nouvelle    Heloise. 
Though  the  author  possessed  none  of  Rous- 
seau's force  and  grace  of  style,  her  novel, 
and  the  play  founded  on  it,  could  not  have 
secured  the  attention  of  England  and  France 
unless  its  human  element  had  been  power- 
fully presented.     Macaulay  wrote  that  "  on 
the  whole,  it  is  the  most  valuable  addition 
that  America  has  made   to  English  litera- 
ture."*    England  and  her  colonies  bought 
a  million  and  a  half  copies.     Two  Lor»don 
theatres  produced   the   play.     Three   daily 
newspapers  in  Paris  published  it  as  a  serial 
and  the  Parisians  filled  two  theatres  nightly 

iTrevelyan,II,  271. 


1;^ 


ao 


UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN 


to  laugh  at  Topsy  and  weep  at  the  hard 
fate  of  Uncle  Tom.*  Many  other  stories 
were  written  to  exhibit  the  wrongs  of  the 
negro  under  chattel  slavery,  but  they  are 
all  forgotten.  Slavery,  in  the  destruction 
of  which  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  had  a  po- 
tent influence,  is  gone,  but  the  novel, 
published  in  1852,  is  still  read  and  the 
drama  acted,  telling  the  present  generation 
of  the  great  political  and  social  revolution 
wrought  in  their  father's  time. 

From  1852  to  1860,  the  year  in  which 
Lincoln  was  elected  President,  the  influence 
of  this  story  on  Northern  thought  was  im- 
mense. The  author  had  made  no  effort  to 
suppress  the  good  side  of  slavery,  but  had 
shown  an  intelligent  sympathy  for  the  well- 
meaning  masters,  who  had  been  reared  un- 
der the  system ;  at  the  same  time  she  had 
laid  bare  the  injustice,  cruelty  and  horror 
of  the  white  man's  ownership  of  the  negro 
with  a  fidelity  to  nature  that  affected  every 
reader.     The  election  of  Lincoln  is  a  great 

>  I,  284  et  ante. 


COMPROMISE  OF  1850  21 

fact  in  the  destruction  of  slavery  and,  in 
gainin/T  voters  for  him,  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin 
was  one  of  the  effective  influences.  It  made 
a  strong  appeal  to  women,  and  the  mothers' 
opinion  was  a  potent  educator  during  these 
eight  years;  boys  who  had  read  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin  in  their  early  teens  reached  the  voting 
age  at  a  time  when  they  could  give  slavery 
a  hard  itnock.* 

The  Compromise  of  1850  was  an  adroit 
device,  as  compromises  go,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Indefensible  portions  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  was  fair  to  both  sec- 
tions. It  abated  the  antislavery  agitation 
at  the  North  and  the  threats  of  disunion  at 
the  South  and  would  probably  have  main- 
tained quiet  between  the  two  sections  for  a 
considerable  period  had  not  an  able  Demo- 
cratic senator  opened  the  question  afresh  in 
1854. 

Slavery,  as  a  sectional  issue,  had  first 
claimed  the  attention  of  Congress  in  1820 
in  the  form  of  a  proposition  to  admit  Mis- 

» I,  285. 


ir 


1^ 


i. 


22 


STEPHEN  A.   DOUGLAS 


souri  as  a  slave  State.  "This  momentous 
question,"  wrote  Jefferson  from  his  retire- 
ment, "like  a  fire-bell  in  the  night  awak- 
ened and  filled  me  with  terror.  I  considered 
it  at  once  as  the  knell  of  the  Union."  *  ^  e 
result  of  the  agitation  was  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise. Missouri  was  admitted  as  a  slave 
State,  but  her  Southern  boundary  of  36'  30' 
was  henceforward  taken  as  the  line  between 
slavery  and  freedom  in  the  rest  of  the  great 
territ'^ry  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  North 
of  that  line  slavery  was  forever  prohibited.'' 
In  1854,  St^'phen  A.  Douglas,  a  senator 
from  Illinois,  filled  the  public  eye.  Tuo>')Ji 
he  had  never  received  any  systematic  edu- 
cation, he  was  a  man  of  natural  parts  and 
had  achieved  a  considerable  success  at  the 
bar ;  then,  finding  politics  more  to  his  lik- 
ing than  the  law,  he  had  been  able  so  to 
commend  himself  to  his  community  that  his 
political  advancement  was  rapid  and,  up  to 
a  point,  practically  continuous.  lie  had  be- 
come one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Democratic 


1,30. 


*  I,  ae. 


REPEAL  OF  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE      23 

party  and  craved  tlic  presidency ;  being  no 
believer  in  the  maxim  that  everytliing  comes 
to  him  who  waits,  he  naturally  adopted  the 
boldest  methods  for  gratifying  his  restless 
ambition.     As  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Territories  and  leader  of  the  Democrats 
in  the  Senate,  he  introduced  a  bill  for  the 
organization  of  the  territories  of  Nebraska 
and  Kansas,  one  clause  in  which  provided 
for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
of  1820.     Here  was  an  open  bid  for  South- 
em  support  in  his  contest  for  the  presidency. 
His  bill  became  a  law  and  the  slavery  ques- 
tion  was   opened   anew.      For   instead    of 
being  closed  to  slavery  by  formal  Congres- 
sional act,  these  territories  were  now  open 
to  settlers  from  both  North  and  South,  the 
one  bringing  their  horses  and  mules,  and 
the  others  having  the  privilege  of  bringing 
their  slaves  as  well.^ 

The  North  was  indignant  at  this  violation 
of  a  solemn  compact  by  a  movement  initiated 
by  one  of  her  own  sons.     As  I  look  back 

» I,  425. 


{**! 


m 


24 


STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 


upon  this  episode,  with  every  disposition  to 
be  fair  to  Douglas  and  not  unmindful  of 
apologies  for  his  conduct  that  conscientious 
historical  students  have  made,  I  believe 
that  he  merits  strong  condemnation  from 
history.  By  his  act  was  revived  a  perilous 
dispute  that  was  thought  to  have  been 
settled.  Douglas  loved  his  country  and 
reverenced  the  Constitution,  but  he  could 
not  see  the  evil  of  slavery;  he  did  not 
appreciate  that  it  was  out  of  tune  with  his 
century.  Not  intending,  at  first,  to  go  the 
full  length  of  repealing  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise, he  found  that,  upon  opening  the 
question,  he  had  invoked  a  sentiment  at  the 
South  that  demanded  full  measure.*  To 
retreat  would  be  cowardly,  even  ridiculous. 
He  must  go  forward  or  give  up  his  position 
as  a  leader.  Therefore  he  demanded,  in  the 
end  without  evasion,  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  and  supported  his 
measure  by  adroit  but  specious  reasoning. 


*  Chadwick  (Hart's  Ani?rican  Nation,  Causes  of  the  Civi! 
War,  58)  thinks  that  Douglas  yielded  to  an  unconscious  press'- r- 


i 


J 

-^ 


STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 


25 


He  stood  for  the  doch  -i e  which  went  by 
the  high-sounding  i  imo  of  po  uhar  sover- 
eignty and  meant  t  ■  nc  the  people  of  the 
territories  themselves  should  determine 
whether  slavery  should  be  protected  or  pro- 
hibited within  their  borders,  and  he  accord- 
ingly carried  the  notion  of  local  government 
to  an  unworkable  and  dangerous  extreme, 
considering  that  the  question  involved  was 
slavery.  Give  the  people  a  chance  to 
decide,  he  argued  continually.  "  If  they 
wish  slavery,  they  have  a  right  to  it."  "  I 
care  not  whether  slavery  is  voted  down  or 
voted  up."  * 

Of  parliamentarians,  in  the  English  sense 
of  the  word,  Douglas  is  one  of  the  cleverest 
in  our  annals.  The  conduct  of  his  measure 
through  the  Senate,  where  he  was  opposed 
by  men  of  remarkable  ability  and  where  the 
closure  does  not  obtain,  was  a  master  stroke 
of  parliamentary  management.  With  the 
help  of  the  President  and  the  zeal  of  South- 

*  I.  447 ;  II.  285.  So  far  aa  I  know,  this  last  statement  waa 
not  made  until  18o7,  but  it  fits  his  argument  of  1S54. 


1-1 


"a 


26      REPEAL  OF  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE 

ern  representatives,  wlio  were  quick  to  see 
their  advantage,  the  House  adopted  Doug- 
las's measure  despite  the  rise  of  indignant 
sentiment  in  the  North  at  the  betrayal  of  a 
sacred  pledge.  This  outburst  of  public 
opinion  was  predicted  on  the  day  that  the 
Senate  passed  the  bill.  On  that  sombre 
March  morning  of  1854,  when  the  cannon 
from  tlie  navy-yard  was  booming  out  the 
legislative  victory,  Senator  Chase,  an  earn- 
est opponent  of  the  bill,  said  to  his  intimate 
and  sympathizing  friend.  Senator  Sumner, 
as  they  walked  away  from  the  Capitol  to- 
gether, "  They  celebrate  a  present  victory 
but  the  echoes  they  awake  will  never  rest 
until  slavery  itself  shall  die."  ^ 

Chase  was  right.  The  antislavery  men, 
a  powerful  majority  of  the  North,  deemed 
the  bill  an  outrage.  From  the  press  and 
the  public  platform,  from  the  "stump,"  as 
we  say,  in  grove  or  park,  came  emphatic 
condemnation  of  the  conduct  of  Douglas 
and  of  the  act  of  Congress.     Douglas's  im- 

1 1,  470. 


».<!«. 


■s 


REPEAL  01    MISSOURI  COMPROMISE      27 

popularity  in  the  North  was  intense  and 
widespread.  It  was  then  a  common  prac- 
tice to  burn  in  effigy  the  pubhc  man  whose 
course  was  disapproved.  "  I  could  travel," 
said  Douglas,  "from  Boston  to  Chicago 
by  the  light  of  my  own  effigies."  ^  Arriv- 
ing in  Chicago,  his  home,  he  gave  notice 
that  he  would  address  his  constituents, 
but  his  opponents  went  to  the  meeting 
and,  by  cries  of  execration,  denied  him  a 
hearing. 

Like  Mason's  Fugitive  Slave  Bill  Doug- 
las's repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  re- 
acted to  the  detriment  of  its  author.  It 
destroyed  his  chance  for  the  presidency.  It 
brought  about  the  formation  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  On  the  Ist  of  January,  1854, 
the  two  chief  parties  in  the  country  were 
the  Democratic  and  Whig,  the  Democratic 
having  the  presidency  and  a  good  majority 
in  both  the  Senate  and  the  House.  There 
was  a  third  party,  the  Free-Soil,  which, 
holding  as  its  cardinal  doctrine,  opposition 


ii 


28 


ANTI-SLAVERY  SENTIMENT 


to  slavery,  sometimes  held  the  balance  of 
power  in  closely  contested  Northern  States, 
but  which  had  only  a  small  representation 
in  Congress.  The  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  roused  the  dormant  antislavery 
feeling  in  the  country  and  brought  home  to 
many  the  conviction  that  a  new  party  should 
be  formed  to  unite  Whigs,  antislavery  Dem- 
ocrats and  Free-Soilers  in  their  resistance 
to  the  aggression  of  the  slave  power.  Sew- 
ard's ability  and  political  experience  seemed 
tu  mark  him  out  for  leadership,  but  he  was 
a  devoted  Whig  and,  as  the  Northern  Whigs 
had,  to  a  man,  opposed  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  and  would  form  the 
predominant  element  in  the  new  partner- 
sliip,  he  thought  that  all  antislavery  men 
should  enlist  under  their  banner.  Western- 
ers thought  differently  and,  being  less  tram- 
melled by  political  organizations  than  their 
Eastern  cousins,  proceeded  to  inaugurate 
the  movement  that  was  really  demanded 
by  the  posture  of  affairs.  Five  weeks  after 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  a 


REPUBLICAN  PARTY  FORMED  29 

large  body  of  earnest,  intelligent  and  rep- 
utable  men,    the    leading   citizens   of  the 
State  of  Michigan,  came  together  at  Jack- 
son and,  as  the  largest  hall  was  inadequate 
for  their  accommodation,  they  met  in  a  grove 
of  famous  oaks  in  the  outskirts  of  the  vil- 
lage.    Here  they  resolved  to   suspend   all 
differences  regarding  economic  or  adminis- 
trative policy,  to  act  cordially  and  faithfully 
in  unison  with  all  opposed  to  the  extension 
of  slavery  and  to  be  known  as  Republicans 
until  the  end  of  the  contest.^     Other  States 
followed  this  example. 

The  year  1854  was  one  of  political  and 
moral  excitement.  Though  undoubtedly 
the  original  impulse  came  from  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  all  the  ensuing 
agitation  did  not  turn  on  the  question  of 
slavery.  The  temperance  question  entered 
into  politics;  more  conspicuous  than  this 
was  the  so-called  Know-nothing  movement, 
the  object  of  which  was  a  political  proscrip- 
tion of  foreigners,  especially  Roman  Catho- 

»II,  48. 


dv  j 


30 


ELECTIONS  OF   1854 


lics.^  Important  as  were  their  acts  for 
a  twelvemonth  or  so,  the  Know-nothings 
need  not  divert  us  from  the  main  issue 
which,  as  we  study  it  in  the  elections  of 
members  for  the  House  of  Representatives 
in  the  autumn  of  1854,  was  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise  —  Should  it  be 
upheld  or  denounced  ?  In  this  contest  the 
Northern  press  had  a  marked  influence  and, 
in  its  warm  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  free- 
dom, wrote  for  itself  a  noble  chapter.  The 
foremost  journahst  of  the  day  was  Horace 
Greeley,  who  exerted  his  peculiar  influence 
through  the  New  York  Weekly  Tribune, 
which  was  estimated  to  have  half  a  million 
readers,  many  of  whom  looked  upon  it  as  a 
kind  of  political  bible.  The  revolution  in 
public  sentiment  was  strikingly  disclosed  in 
the  elections  of  1854.  In  the  House,  which 
had  repealed  the  Missouri  Compromise,  the 
Democrats  had  been  in  a  majority  of  84 ; 
in  the  succeeding  one,  they  were  in  a  minor- 
ity of  75.     Of  forty-two  Northern  Demo- 


ni,  50. 


ifi-  ■ 
■1 


1 


m 
■w 


FIGHT  FOR  KANSAS 


31 


crats  who  had  voted  for  the  Repeal  only 
seven   were  reelected.*      While  the  North 
deemed  the  Repeal  an  outrage,  the   South 
hailed  it  with  joy.^     Believing  that  slaver}' 
was  right  and  that  negroes  were  property, 
she  thought  that  an  equal  privilege  in  the 
territory   now    in    question   was   her    due. 
Douglas  in  his  bill  separated  the  vast  terri- 
tory  into    two    parts,    the    northern    part 
Nebraska,     the    southern     Kansas.      The 
South  regarded  this  provision  as  indicating 
an  intention  to  give  her  a  new  slave  State 
in  Kansas  while  Nebraska  was  entitled  to 
freedom.     But  under  the  Douglas  scheme 
of  popular  sovereignty  the   people   of  the 
territory  should  themselves  decide  whether 
or  not   they    would   have    slavery.      The 
actual   result   was   a   contest   between   the 
South  and  the  North  on  the  plains  of  Kan- 
sas.^    The  adjoining  slave  State,  Missouri, 
sent  thither  a  number  of  settlers  who,  for 
the  most  part,  wished  merely  to  better  their 
condition;     and,    at    the    same    time,     in 

»II,67.  »!,  496.  ni,78etseq. 


A- 


32 


CIVIL  WAR  IN  KANSAS 


response  to  the  pioneering  spirit  of  the  age, 
a  large  emigration  from  the  Western  free 
States   took  place.     Behind   these  natural 
movements    were    an    organized   effort   in 
Missouri  to  make  Kansas  a  slave  State  and 
an  Emigrant  Aid  Company  in  New  Eng- 
land, whose  purpose  was  to  make  her  free. 
At  the  first  election  for  a  territorial  legisla- 
ture, a  mob  of  five  thousand  Missourians, 
armed  to  the  teeth,  marched  into  Kansas, 
took   possession    of   the   ballot-boxes    and 
chose   the   proslavery   candidates,  who,  on 
their    meeting,    legalized   slavery,    and,   to 
maintain    it,    adopted   a   code   of   laws   of 
exceptional  harshness  and  severity.     Mean- 
while New  England  emigrants  reenforced  the 
original  Northern  settlers  until  there  was  a 
respectable     free-state    party    wisely    led. 
These  repudiated  the  territorial  legislature 
as  illegal,  organized  at  once  a  state  govern- 
ment and  applied  to  Congress  for  admission 
into  the  Union,  so  that  there  existed  in  Kan- 
sas at  the  same  time  two  governments  and 
two  sets  of  people  directly  hostile  to  each 


* 


CAUSE  OF  THE  SOUTH  33 

Other.  The  President  and  the  Senate  sup- 
ported the  proslavery  party,  while  the 
majority  of  the  House,  elected  during  the 
indignant  protest  against  Douglas's  Repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  were  on  the 
side  of  the  free-state  settlers. 

The  cause  of  Kansas  was  declared  to  be 
the  cause  of  tlie   South  and  appeals  were 
made  for  emigrants  and  for  slaves.     One  of 
the  Missouri  leaders  said,  "If  we  can  get  two 
thousand  slaves  actually  lodged  in  Kansas 
our  success  is  certain."     But  all  the  negroes 
were  wanted  in   the  cotton  States  for  the 
production  of  cotton.     Moreover,  there  was 
a  lack  of  means  in  the  South  properly  to 
eqmp  and  arm  the  young  hardy  men  who 
were  desired   for  the   conflict.     The  most 
significant  result  of  the  appeals  by  the  press 
and  political  leaders  was  the  arming  and 
equipment  of  two  hundred  eighty  men  raised 
m  three  of  the  cotton  States,  known  from 
Its  leader  as  Buford's  battahon,  who  after  a 
blessing  from  the  Methodist  pastor  and  a 
promise  of  bibles  from  the  Baptist,  left  Mont- 


•  ii 


84 


CAUSE  OF  THE  NORTH 


gomery  for  Kansas  to  fight  for  the  cause  of 
slavery.  At  about  the  same  time  a  meet- 
ing was  held  in  a  New  Haven  church  to  col- 
lect money  for  a  company  of  ''eventy-nine 
emigrants  who  should  go  to  Kansas  to  battle 
for  freedom.  A  number  of  ministers  and 
several  of  the  Yale  College  faculty  were 
present.  Fifty  Sharpe's  rifles  were  wanted. 
Professor  Silliman  subscribed  for  one,  the 
pastor  of  the  church  for  a  second,  and,  as 
the  subscription  went  on,  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  a  ceiv'brated  pulpit  orator,  said  that 
if  twenty-five  were  promised,  his  Plymouth 
Church  would  give  the  rest.*  Henceforward 
the  favorite  arms  of  the  Northern  emigrants, 
Sharpe's  rifles,  were  known  as  "Beecher's 
bibles."  The  men  who  bore  them  were 
called  in  the  cotton  States  "Hireling  emi- 
grants, poured  in  to  extinguish  this  new 
hope  of  the  South  " ;  at  the  North  the  Mis- 
souri invaders  were  called  "  border  ruffians," 
whilst  their  allies,  Buford's  battalion,  were 
scarcely  in  better  odor.     When  feelings  ran 

>  II,  153. 


CIVIL  WAR  IN   KANSAS  35 

SO  high  in  the  peaceful  portions  of  tlie  ooun- 
try,  it  is  little  wonder  that  Kansas  itself  was 
soon  in  a  state  of  civil  war.     At  first  the  so- 
called  "  border  ruffians  "  were  the  offenders, 
but  when  a  free-state  company  under   the 
leadership  of  John  Brown  had  in  one  night 
on     the     Pottawatomie     deliberately    mid 
cruelly  murdered   five    proslavery   men,    it 
could  no  longer  be  said  that  the  work  of 
violence    was    all    on   one   side.     Guerilla 
bands   of  both   parties  wandered  over   the 
territory  and  engaged  one  another  at  sight. 
No  frugal  settler  of  either  party  was  safe 
from  pillage  at  the  hands  of  marauders  from 
the  other  camp.     Women  and  children  fled 
the   territory.      Men   slept   on   their   arms. 
Highway  robbery  and  rapine  prevailed  over 
all  the  country-side ;  "  the  smoke  of  burn- 
ing  dwellings   darkened  the  atmosphere."  ^ 
As  the  proslavery  faction  had  the  Federal 
government  on  its  side,  it  claimed  to  be  the 
party  of  law  and  order  and  in  that  name 
were  committed  its  depredations,  whUst  the 

'  II,  216. 


M 


ASSAULT  ON  SUMNER 


other  faction  killed  and  robbed  in  the  name 
of  liberty.  Yet,  in  a  balancing  of  acts  and 
character,  the  free-state  adherents  of  1856 
are  superior  to  the  proslavery  partisans  in 
everything  that  goes  to  make  up  industrious 
and  law-abiding  citizens.  The  free-state 
men  lost  the  larger  amount  of  property  and 
the  destruction  caused  by  the  proslavery 
faction  was  much  the  greater. 

Kansas  was  engrossing  the  attention  of 
Congress  when  there  took  pla<  o  in  the  Sen- 
ate an  incident  that  profoundly  affected 
Northern  sentiment.  Charles  Sumner,  Sen- 
ator from  Massachusetts,  had  spoken  on 
"The  Crime  against  Kansas,"  making  use 
of  much  exaggeration  and  turgid  rhetoric  in 
his  invective  against  the  operations  of  the 
slave  power.  It  was  not  this  portion  of  his 
speech,  however,  that  was  responsible  for 
its  unfortunate  sequel,  but  a  bitter  personal 
attack,  with  insulting  allusions,  on  Butler, 
a  Southern  aristocrat  and  Senator  from 
South  Carolina.  Two  days  later,  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  Senate,  while  Sumner 


ASSAULT  ON  SUMNER  37 

waa  sitting  at  his  desk  writing  letters,  ho 
was  approached  by  Preston  Brooks,  a  rei)re- 
sentative  from  South  Carolina,  who  declared 
that  he  had  libeUed  South  Carolina  and  his 
relative,   Senator  Butler.      When  he   had 
spoken,  Brooks  raised  his  cane  and  struck 
Sumner  on  the  head  with  all  his  might,  con- 
tinuing to  strike  until  he  had  stunned  and 
blinded  his  victim.     The  cane  broke ;  even 
then  he  rained    blows  with    the  butt  on 
the  defenceless  head.     Sumner  instinctively 
wrenched  the  desk  from  its  fastenings,  stood 
up,   and   with   wildly   directed    efforts  at- 
tempted to  defend  himself.     Brooks  struck 
him  again  and  again.     At  last  Sumner,  reel- 
ing, staggering  backwards  and  tdewards, 
fell    to  the   floor,   bleeding   profusely  and 
covered  with  his  blood.^ 

Sumner  had  an  iron  constitution  and  ex- 
cellent health,  but  his  spinal  column  was 
affected  so  that  he  must  spend  the  next 
three  and  a  half  years  in  search  of  a  cure. 
He  received  medical  treatment  in  Washing- 

» n,  139, 140.    The  assault  was  on  May  22, 1850. 


38        KANSAS  QUESTION  IN  CONGRESS 

ton,  Boston,  London  and  Paris,  but  never 
regained  his  former  physical  vigor.  By  an 
almost  mianimous  vote  of  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  he  was  reelected  to  the  Senate 
where  his  empty  seat  was  eloquent  for  his 
cause.  Not  until  December,  1859,  was  he 
able  to  resume  and  steadily  pursue  his  sena- 
torial career. 

The  assault  struck  the  North  with  horror 
and  indignation,  while  in  the  slave  States  it 
was  approved  by  the  press  and  by  the  people. 
The  assailant  was  spoken  of  as  the  coura- 
geous and  noble  Brooks ;  indeed  the  South 
rallied  to  him  as  the  champion  of  their  cause.* 
As  the  Senate  was  democratic  and  the 
House  republican.  Congress  failed  to  agree 
on  a  bill  that  would  dispose  of  the  Kansas 
trouble.  The  contest  in  the  legislative 
chambers  was  then  transferred  to  the  country 
and  the  opportunity  for  a  verdict  from  the 
people  was  at  hand,  inasmuch  as  a  President 
and  a  House  of  Representatives  was  to  be 
chosen  in  this  year  of  1 856.     The  Democrats 

1 II,  143, 147. 


PRESIDENTIAL  CONTEST  OF  1856         39 

nominated  Buchanan  in  preference  to  Doug- 
las, because  Buchanan  had  been  out  of  the 
country  as  minister  to  England  during  these 
years  and  was  not  associated  with  the  re- 
peal of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and   the 
consequent   disturbance   in   Kansas.      The 
Republican  National  Convention  was  an  ex- 
ceptionally earnest  and   patriotic  body  of 
men,  yet  it  made  an  unfortunate  nomination 
for  President  in  Colonel  Frdmont,  who  lacked 
both  the  ability  and  the  character  demanded 
of  the  leader  of  so  righteous  a  cause.     But 
the  Convention  registered  the  popular  will 
It  was  a  boon  that  he  failed  of  election,  as 
he  was  unfit  to  cope  with  the  secession  of 
the  Southern  States,  which  would  certainly 
have  ensued.     The  Republican  declaration 
of  pnnciples  was  an  improvement  on  the 
candidate.     It  demanded  the  admission  of 
Kansas  as  a  free  State  and  declared  it  to  be 
both  the  right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  pro- 
hibit slavery  in  the  territories.^      The  Re- 

>  The  territories  were  organized  divisions  of  the  country  un- 
ngnts  of  statehood.    See  map. 


•I 


40 


DEMOCRATS  SUCCESSFUL 


publicans  made  an  enthusiastic  canvass, 
condemning  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise and  pointing  to  "  bleeding  Kansas" 
as  its  result.  But  Buchanan  was  elected 
President,  and  the  Democrats  regained  con- 
trol of  the  House  of  Representatives.  As 
they  still  had  the  Senate  by  a  majority  of 
12,  they  were  in  full  possession  of  the  ex- 
ecutive and  legislative  branches  of  the  gov- 
ernment.^ 

Our  government  is  singular  in  its  com- 
plete separation  of  the  executive,  legislative 
and  judicial  powers.  Under  any  polity,  as 
Mr.  Bryce  observed,  ^  we  must  come  to  the 
people  at  last ;  yet  each  branch  of  our  gov- 
ernment emanates  from  the  people  in  a  dif- 
ferent manner.  Districts  of  a  population  of 
93,000  (I  am  speaking  of  1856 ;  our  con- 
gressional districts  are  now  much  larger  ^) 
elect  the  members  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. The  voters  of  each  State  choose 
a  legislature  which    elects    two    senators. 

>  II,  169  et  seq.  *  American  Commonwealth,  II,  217. 

•Under  the  census  of  1910,  211,877. 


i 


DEED  SCOTT  OPINION  41 

The  President  is  chosen  through  a  method 
of  indirect  election,  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  and  he  appoints  the  justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  who,  however,  must  be 
confirmed  by  the  Senate  and  who  have  a 
life  tenure. 

For  three  years  the  national  legislature 
and  executive  had  endeavored  to  solve  the 
slavery  problem  with  conspicuous  failure. 
Now  the  Supreme  Court  was  to  try  its 
hand.  Its  Chief  Justice  has  great  power  in 
directing  the  consideration  of  the  Court  to 
constitutional  questions  which  may  arise  in 
any  case  before  it.  The  present  Chief, 
Taney,  had  been  on  the  Bench  for  twenty- 
two  years  and  had  gained  a  solid  reputation 
for  accurate  knowledge  of  law  and  clearness 
of  statement.  Being  of  broadly  patriotic 
temper,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  his  Court 
could  settle  the  slavery  question,  and,  in  a 
case  where  it  was  necessary  only  to  deter- 
mine whether  a  certain  negro  named  Dred 
Scott  was  slave  or  freeman,  he  delivered 
a  carefully  prepared  opinion  in  which  he  as- 


-If? 


>P 


tHl 


42 


DRED  SCOTT  OPINION 


serted  that  "  the  right  of  property  in  a  slave 
is  distinctly  and  expressly  affirmed  in  the 
Constitution  " ;  that  Congress  had  no  more 
power  over  slave  property  than  over  property 
of  any  other  kind;  consequently  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise  Act  "  is  not  warranted  by 
the  Constitution  and  is  therefore  void." 
Five  judges  agreed  with  Taney  and  these 
made  two-thirds  of  the  Court.  This  decision 
which  neutralized  the  Republican  doctrine 
that  Congress  had  the  power  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  the  territories,  was  a  blow  to 
those  Republican  leaders  who  were  good 
lawyers  and  who  reverenced  the  Supreme 
Court.  It  was  met  in  the  common-sense 
way  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  declared  that 
the  Republicans  offered  no  resistance  to  the 
decision,  but,  believing  it  to  be  erroneous, 
would  do  their  best  to  get  the  Court  to 
overrule  it  as  it  had  previously  overruled 
other  decisions.^ 

This  so-called  Dred   Scott   opinion   was 
delivered  two  days  after  the  inauguration  of 

» II,  251  et  seq. 


LECOMPTON  SCHEME  43 

Buchanan,  and  though  it  did  not  dispose  of 
the  Kansas  question,  it  gave  a  theoretical 
basis  to  slavery  in  the  territories  and  fur- 
nished a  strong  support  for  the  next  move 
of  the  slave  power. 

The   effort  to  make   Kansas  an   actual 
slave  territory  had   failed,  as  it  had  now 
within  its  borders  only  200  or  300  slaves; 
but,  as  ^here  were   sixteen  free  to  fifteen 
slave  States,  the  proslavery   party  eagerly 
desired  the  political  power  of  another  State 
—  its  two  senators  and  one  or  more  repre- 
sentatives—to restore  the  equilibrium  exist- 
ing before  1850.     A  plan  to  this  end  was 
promptly    devised.      Originating    probably 
with  Southerners  of  high  position  in  Wash- 
ington,   it    found    ready    instruments    'n 
Kansas.     A   sham   election   resulted   in   a 
constitutional   convention,  which  framed  a 
Constitution  establishing  slavery  in  the  most 
unequivocal  terms  and  which,  as  it  could 
not  avoid  the   time-honored  precedent   of 
submitting  the  Constitution  to  a  popular 
vote,  provided  for  a  submission  of  it  that, 


E 


44 


DOUGLAS  OPPOSED  BUCHANAN 


in  the  words  of  the  Democratic  governor  of 
the  territory,  was  "a  vile  fraud,  a  base 
counterfeit  and  a  wretched  device"  to  pre- 
vent the  people  from  deciding  whether  or 
not  they  would  have  slavery.  For  the 
Convention  did  not  dare  to  provide  for  a 
fair  election,  as  the  proslavery  advocates 
would  have  been  outvoted  three  to  one. 
President  Buchanan,  though  from  a  North- 
em  State,  had  a  great  admiration  for  South- 
ern politicians  whose  persuasion  and  threats 
induced  him  to  support  this  plan,  which  was 
known  as  the  Lecompton  scheme.* 

The  proceeding  was  a  travesty  of  the  doc- 
trine of  popular  sovereignty,  and  when  the 
Senate  met  in  December,  1857,  Douglas 
boldly  denounced  it.*  His  manner  was 
haughty  and  defiant  as  he  set  himself  in 
opposition  to  his  party,  the  Democratic, 
which  was  strongly  entrenched  in  all  three 
branches  of  the  government,  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  characterize  the  scheme  "as  a 
trick,  a  fraud  upon  the  rights  of  the  people." 

» II,  276  et  seq.  «  U,  283. 


BREACH  IN  DEMOCRATIC  PARTY        45 
Despite  Douglas's  opposition,   the   Demo- 
cratic Senate  voted  to  admit  Kansas  as  a 
State  under  her  proslavery  constitution,  but 
to  this  the  House,  in  closer  contact  with  the 
people,  would  not  agree.     The  excitement 
in  Washington  was  intense,  and,  during  a 
heated  all-night  session  of  the  House,  an 
altercation  between  a  Southern  and  North- 
em  representative  resulted  in  a  fisticuff,  in 
which  thirty  men  were   engaged,   but  no 
weapons  drawn.     In  the  end,  a  compromise 
was  agreed  upon  between  the  Senate  and 
the  House,  the  effect  of  which  was  to  offer 
to  Kansas  a  large  amount  of  pubUc  lands  if 
she  would  accept  the  Lecompton  constitu- 
tion.   By  a  vote  of  11,300  to  1800  she  re- 
jected the  bribe  and  thus  determined  that 
slavery  should  not  exist  in  Kansas.     But 
the  affair  left  an  irreconcilable  breach  in 
the  Democratic  party.* 

We  are  now  m  the  year  1858,  in  the 
spring  of  which  year  Douglas  was  the  best- 
known  and  most  popular  man  in  the  North, 

» II,  301  et  ante. 


'.:\ 


46 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


SO  effectively  had  he  won  back  public  esteem 
by  his  resistance  to  the  Lecompton  project. 
The  relations  between  him  and  the  Republi- 
cans in  Congress  were  cordial  and  the  possi- 
bility that  their  party  should  nominate  him 
as  their  candidate  for  the  presidency  two 
years  hence  was  considered  by  no  means 
out  of  the  question.  Seward  was  coquetting 
with  him  but  had  no  idea  of  stepping  aside 
in  his  favor  if  the  conditions  were  propitious 
for  Republican  success.  Douglas  must  stand 
this  year  for  reelection  as  senator  from 
Illinois  and  the  leading  Eastern  Republicans, 
nearly  every  Republican  senator  and  many 
representatives  desired  that  their  party 
should  make  no  opposition  to  him.  Gree- 
ley in  his  powerful  journal  warmly  favored 
his  return  to  the  Senate ;  but  the  Republi- 
cans in  Illinois,  under  the  lead  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  protested  against  it. 

The  son  of  a  shiftless  poor  white  of  the 
slave  State  of  Kentucky,  Lincoln  was 
brought  up  in  that  State  and  the  southern 
part  of  Indiana,  moving  to  Illinois  when  he 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  47 

was  twenty-one.     The  southern  Indiana  of 
that  day  might  have  suggested  the  Eden 
of  Martin  Chuzzlewit.      Its  fanns  and  vil- 
lages   were   rude   and   ill-kept;    fever   and 
ague  were  unrepressed ;    the  most  ordinary 
refinements  of  human  existence  were  lacking 
even  to  what  would  be  considered  there  to- 
day the  actual  necessaries  of  civilization. 
Lincoln  said  that  the  story  of  his  early  life 
was  told  in   a  single   sentence   of  Gray's 
Elegy,— 

"  The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor." 

His  schooling  was  necessarUy  meagre,  but 
he  had  an  active  mind  and  an  extraordinary 
power  of  application.      He  was  a  thorough 
student  of  the  Bible  and  Shakespeare  and 
mastered    the    first    six    books    of  Euclid. 
Reading  few  books,  he  thouglit  long  and 
carefully  on  what  he  read,  and  his  opinions 
on  all  subjects  were  generally  tlie  result  of 
severe  study  and  profound  reflection.      He 
studied  law  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight 
began  practice ;  but  his  intirest  in  poUtica 


48 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


was  so  deep  as  to  brook  no  enduring  rival. 
He  loved  and  believed  in  the  common 
people ;  he  amused  them  and  interested 
them  in  himself.  His  early  associates  were 
American  bom,  dwellers  in  village  and 
lonely  farm  and  the  stories  he  told  them 
were  of  the  order  that  there  prevails ;  if 
they  were  amusing,  he  cared  little  if  they 
were  coarse  as  well.  A  frequenter  of  the 
tavern  he  used  neither  spirits  nor  tobacco ; 
his  personal  morals  were  good.  He  served 
one  term  in  the  Illinois  legislature,  another 
in  the  United  States  House  of  Representa- 
tives, but  not  belonging  to  the  dominant 
party  in  his  State,  he  failed  to  remain  con- 
tinuously in  the  public  service.  He  reached 
a  high  rank  in  his  profession,  being  esteemed 
the  strongest  jury  lawyer  in  Illinois ;  but  he 
was  a  bad  advocate  in  an  unjust  cause. 
The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
diverted  his  attention  from  law  to  politics, 
and  a  speech,  in  which  he  demolished 
Douglas's  political  and  historical  sophistry, 
made  him  the  leader  of  the  Republicans  in 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  ^ 

his  State.    Lincoln  was  then  nearly  elected 
United  States  senator,  but  although  deeply 
disappointed,   he,   with   rare   magnanimity 
and  judgment,  withdrew  in  favor  of  another 
candidate,  to  prevent  the  defeat  of  the  cause 
Intensely  ambitious,  he  nevertheless  loved 
truth  and  justice  better  than  political  place 
and  power.      At  twenty-four  he  had  been 
dubbed  "honest  Abe."     At  no  time  in  his 
eventful  life  did  he  do  anything  to  cast  a 
shadow  of  discredit  on  this  epithet  sprung 
from  the  rude  soil  of  Illinois.* 

At  the  age  of  forty-nine,  Lincoln  was 
hardly  known  beyond  the  confines  of  his 
own  State  or,  wherever  known  in  the  East 
was  regarded  as  a  "backwoods  lawyer"' 
yet  he  stood  forth  to  contest  the  senatorship 
with  the  most  formidable  debater  in  the 
country.     He  gave  the  keynote  of  the  cam- 
paign m  the  most  carefuUy  prepared  speech 
that  he  had  ever  made,  addressed  to  the 
Republican   State   Convention,   which   had 
unammously  nominated  him  as  the  candi- 

>  n,  313  et  ante. 


I 


'r 


50 


LINCOLN'S  DOCTRINE 


date  of  tlieir  party  for  senator.  "  *  A  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand,*"  he  said. 
"  I  believe  this  govertunent  cannot  endure 
permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  .  .  . 
Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest 
the  further  spread  of  it  and  place  it  where 
the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that 
it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction ;  or 
its  advocates  will  push  it  for%vard  till  it  shall 
become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as 
well  as  new.  North  as  well  as  South."  * 

When  Douglas  went  to  Chicago  to  open 
the  campaign,  his  town  gave  him  an  enthu- 
siastic reception,  which  contrasted  strikingly 
with  his  home-coming  four  years  earlier. 
In  his  first  speech  he  attacked  with  great 
force  Lincoln's  "  House-divided-against-it- 
self "  doctrine,  which  doctrine,  though  soon 
to  be  demonstrated  in  hard  and  cruel  fact, 
had  in  1858  not  many  adherents.  When 
submitted  to  a  dozen  of  Lincoln's  political 
friends  before  public  pronouncement,  it  had 
received  the  approval  of  only  one,  and  after 

» II,  314. 


DOUCJLAS'S  PBOURESS  5, 

it  was  uttered,  there  was  no  doubt  whateve. 
that,  uiasmuch  as  it  was  in  advance  of  his 
party's  thought,  it  counted  against  him  in 
U.S  contest  with  Douglas.     Douglas's  prog- 
ress through  his  State  amounted  to  a  eon- 
tmuous    ovation.       Travelling    in    special 
trains- an  unusual  proceeding  at  the  time 
-the  trams  being  drawn  by  decorated  loco- 
motives, he  was  met  at  each  city  by  com- 
mittees of  escort,  and,  to  the   thunder  of 
cannon  and  the  music  of  brass  bands,  was 
dnven  under  triumphal   arches,  on  which 
was  emblazoned  the  legend,  "Popular  Sov- 
ere^^ty.»    The  blare  and  flare  of  the  cam- 
paign  were  entirely  to  his  liking,  but  they 
were  merely  the  theatrical  accessories  of  a 
truly  remarkable  actor. 

His  short  and   massive   frame  was  sur- 
mounted by  an  enormous  head,  from  which 
shone  forth  eyes  of  a  penetrating  keenness, 
ms  appearance  alone  justified  the  title  of 
httle  giant"  long  .j,,^  ^.^^^   ,^._^       ^ 

melodious  voice  and  a  clear  incisive  enunci- 
ation combined  with  apt  and  forcible  ges- 


■    )i 


^1 


52 


DOUGLAS 


tures  to  point  the  ingenious  arguments  that 
kindled  a  genuine  enthusiasm  in  the  sons  of 
Illinois,  whose  admiration  and  love  he  had 
gained. 

As  a  boy,  I  saw  Douglas  often  at  the 
house  of  my  father,  who  was  his  warm  per- 
sonal and  political  friend.  His  great  head 
seemed  out  of  proportion  to  his  short  body, 
giving  one  the  idea  of  a  preponderance  of 
the  intellect.  But  he  was  not  a  reader  and 
I  do  not  remember  ever  seeing  a  book  in 
his  hand.  Knowing  little  of  Europe,  he 
had  absorbed  the  history  of  his  own  coun- 
try and  used  this  knowledge  with  ready 
skill.  His  winning  manner  was  decisive 
with  boys  and  he  gained  a  hold  on  young 
voters,  which  he  retained  until  Lincoln  came 
to  appeal  to  their  moral  sense. 

Lincoln  realized  that  the  current  was 
setting  against  him,  but  he  felt  no  regret  for 
his  action  in  setting  forth  the  positive  doc- 
trine of  his  opening  speech.  Beheving  that 
his  adroit  and  plausible  opponent  could  be 
better  answered  from  a  platform  shared  in 


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES  53 

common,  he  challenged  him  to  a  scries  of 
jomt  debates.     He  showed  a  profound  con- 
fidence in  his  cause  when  he  pitted  himself 
against  the  man  who  in  senatorial  debate 
had  got  the  better  of  Seward  and  Sumner 
and  more  recently  had  discomfited  the  cham- 
pions of  the  Lecompton  scheme.     Lincoln 
was   tall,   gaunt,    aAvkward ;    his    face   was 
dark,  yellow,  wrinkled  and  dry,  voice  shrill 
and  unpleasant,   movements  shy  and  odd. 
In  oratorical  po-er  and  personal  magnetism 
he  was  mferior  to  Douglas,  but  when  he  was 
warmed   to   his    subject,   his    face   glowed 
with  the  earnestness  of  conviction  and  he 
spoke  with  excellent  result. 

The  joint  debates,  in  different  portions  of 
the  State,  were  seven ;  they  are  the  most 
celebrated  in  our  history.     Illinois,  thouo-h 
by  no  means  fully  aware  of  the  crucial  char- 
acter of  this  contest,  was  nevertheless  suffi- 
ciently aroused  to  turn  out  audiences  of  from 
five  to  twenty  thousand  at  these  day  meet- 
ings, held  in  groves  or  on  the  prairie.     Here 
Lincoln  by  his  remorseless  logic  brought 


n 


1? 


» - 


I 


54 


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES 


Douglas  to  bay.  He  showed  that  the 
slavery  question  was  at  rest  when  Douglas 
disturbed  it  by  the  Repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise.  Why  could  you  not  leave  it 
alone  f  he  asked  with  emphasis.  The  doc- 
trine of  Popular  Sovereignty  was  "a  living 
creeping  lie."  Douglas,  he  asserted,  has  un- 
dertaken to  "  build  up  a  system  of  policy 
upon  the  basis  of  caring  nothing  about 
the  very  thing  that  everybody  does  care  the 
most  about."  The  real  issue,  Lincoln  truly 
declared,  is  whether  slavery  is  right  or 
wrong. 

Each  partisan  who  went  to  these  meet- 
ings thought  that  his  candidate  got  the 
better  of  the  other.  Douglas  won  the  sen- 
atorship  and  for  the  moment  the  general 
opinion  of  the  country  that  he  had  over- 
powered his  antagonist  in  debate  ;  but  when 
the  debates  were  published  in  book  form, 
in  1860,  opinion  changed.  Careful  read- 
ing showed  that  in  the  dialectic  contest 
Lincoln  prevailed  over  Douglas;  but  he 
had  an  immense  advantage  in  the  just  cause 


FOUR  LEADERS  55 

and  the  one  to  which  public  sentiment  was 
tending.* 

The  country  now  had  four  leaders,  Lin- 
coln, Douglas,  Seward  and  Jefferson  Davis. 
In   October,    1858,   Seward    declared    that 
there  existed  "  an  irrepressible  conflict "  be- 
tween slavery  and  freedom.^     During  the 
ensuing  sessioi    of  the  Senate,  Davis  took 
the  position  th  t  Congress  was   bound   to 
protect  slavery  in  the  territories.     This  was 
a  startling  advance  on  the  doctrine  of  Cal- 
houn  and   the    Supreme   Court,   who   had 
simply  maintained  that   Congress  had  no 
right  or  power  to  prohibit  it.     In  truth  the 
apparent  necessity  of  fostering  slavery  had 
driven  the  Southerners  to  extreme  ground. 
Having  failed   to    secure    Kansas   or   any 
other  Western  territory,  they  now  made  an 
effort  to  acquire  Cuba,  where  the  slave  sys- 
tem  already   prevailed.      Further    acquisi- 
tions were  hoped  for  in  xMexico  and  Central 
America,  where  it  was  beUeved  that  slavery 
could   be   easily  introduced.     Moreover,  as 


» II,  339  ft  ante. 


'11,344,347. 


fM 


56    JOHN  BROWN'S  ATTACK  ON  SLAVERY 

there  were  not  negroes  enough  to  cultivate 
the  cotton,  sugar  and  rice  in  the  existing 
slave  States,  a  large,  possibly  a  predominant, 
party  began  to  advocate  the  revival  of  the 
African  slave  trade.  Indeed,  during  1851), 
a  large  number  of  negroes  were  smuggled 
into  the  Southern  States.^ 

Towards  the  end  of  1859,  John  Brown 
made  his  memorable  attack  on  slavery.  The 
method  of  the  Republicans  ilid  not  suit  him ; 
they  respected  slavery  in  the  States  where 
nlreadv  established.     The  Abolitionists  had 

ft/ 

'•  milk-and-water  principles,"  issuing  merely 
in  talk.  His  own  belief  was  that  action  was 
needed.  Gathering  eighteen  followers,  five 
of  whom  were  negroes,  he  succeeded,  on 
the  cold,  dark  Sunday  night  of  October  16, 
in  capturing  the  United  States  armory,  ar- 
senal and  rifle  works  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
Virginia,  which  were  under  civil,  not  mili- 
tary, guard.  He  expected  the  slaves  of  Vir- 
ginia and  the  free  negroes  of  the  North  to 
flock  to  his  standard.     These  he  would  arm 

>  II,  369 ;  Chadwkk,  Causes  of  the  Civil  War,  18,  62. 


JOHN  BROWN  57 

with   pikes.     Fortified   against   attack  and 
subsisting  on  tlie  enemy,  he  would   make 
his  name  a  terror  througliout  the  South,  so 
that  property  in  man  woukl  become  insecure 
and  eventually  slavery  might  thus  be  de- 
stroyed.    When  his  friends  urged  the  folly 
of  attacking  the  State  of  Virginia,  the  United 
States  government  and  the  slave  power  with 
so  small  a  band,  he  said,  "  If  God  be  for  us, 
who  can  be  against  us  I"     Imbued  as  he 
was  with  the  lessons  of  the  Old  Testament, 
he  undoubtedly  imagined  God  would  work 
for  him  the  wonders  that  He  had  wrought 
for  Joshua  and  Gideon. 

The  attempt,  of  course,  failed  quickly. 
During  the  Monday  fighting  was  earned  on 
with  the  people  of  Harper's  Ferry;  early 
next  morning  Colonel  liobert  E.  Lee,  at  the 
head  of  a  company  of  United  States  Ma- 
rines, took  Brown  and  four  of  his  followers 
prisoners.  Ten  of  them  had  been  killed.^ 
Of  the  inhabitants  and  attacking  parties  five 
were  killed  and  nine  wounded. 

'  Four  had  escaped. 


68 


BROWN  HANGED 


Virginia  was  in  an  uproar.  While  the 
rabble  would  have  Uked  to  lynch  Brown, 
men  of  education  and  position  could  not 
but  admire  his  courage.  He  had  a  fair 
trial,  was  of  course  found  guilty  and,  forty- 
five  days  later,  hanged. 

The  Southerners  believed  that  he  had 
"whetted  knives  of  butchery  for  their 
mothers,  sisters,  daughters  and  babes."  To 
Northern  statesmen,  it  was  clear  that  he 
could  have  achieved  success  only  by  stir- 
ring up  a  servile  war  and  unchaining  pas- 
sions such  as  had  made  the  memory  of  San 
Domingo  horrible.  If  this  were  the  whole 
of  his  strange  story,  History  could  visit  on 
Brown  only  the  severest  condemnation. 
But  his  words  and  behavior  between  arrest 
and  execution,  his  composure  on  the  scaf- 
fold under  circumstances  peculiarly  distress- 
ing must  give  the  ingenuous  student  pause. 
Though  the  contemporary  raptures  of  Emer- 
son and  Victor  Hugo  ^  now  look  preposter- 


*  Emeraon  said,  "  I  wish  wo  might  have  health  enough  to  know 
Tirtue  when  we  see  it  and  not  cry  with  the  fools  '  madman '  when 


BROWN'S  INFLUENCE  59 

ous,  it  must  nevertheless  be  admitted  that 
Brown  suffered  martyrdom  for  the  anti- 
slavery  cause.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  forget 
how  Northern  soldiers,  as  they  marched  to 
the  front  to  fight  for  the  freedom  of  the 
negro,  were  inspired  by  the  stirring  music 
and  words,  — 

"  John  Brown's  body  lies  a-mouldering  in  the  grave, 
But  his  soul  goes  marching  on."i 

Three  days  after  the  execution  of  Brown 
the  Thirty-sixth  Congress  assembled.  In 
the  intense  excitement  that  prevailed  the 
House  attempted  organization  in  the  usual 
manner  by  election  of  a  Speaker,  but  this 

a  hero  passes";  and  he  further  spoke  of  Brown  as  "that  new 
saint,  than  whom  none  purer  or  more  brave  was  ever  led  by  love 
of  men  into  conflict  and  death -the  new  saint  awaiting  his 
martyrdom,  and  who,  if  he  shall  suffer,  will  make  the  gallows 
glorious  like  the  cross."  The  citation  is  from  a  lecture  delivered 
-Nov.  8,  1859.     Brown  was  hanged  Dec.  2. 

Victor  Hugo  wrote :  "In  killing  Brown,  tue  Southern  States 
have  committed  a  crime  which  will  take  its  place  among  the  ca- 
amities  of  history.  The  rupture  of  the  Union  will  fatally  follow 
the  assassination  of  Brown.  As  to  John  Brown,  he  was  an  apostle 
and  a  hero.  The  gibbet  has  only  increased  his  glory  and  made 
hun  a  martyr."  Hugo  suggested  this  epitaph  for  him:  "Pro 
Christo  siciit  Christus."     If,  413,  414. 

>  II,  383,  et  seq.;  Villard's  John  Brown,  426  el  seq. 


91 


i*l 


t^l 


60 


EXCITEMENT  IN  CONGRESS 


was  soon  found  to  be  difficult,  as  no  one  of 
the  four  j)arties  who  met  in  the  chamber 
had  a  majority,  although  the  liepublican 
was  the  most  numerous.  The  contest  began 
on  December  5  and  did  not  end  until  Feb- 
ruary 1 ,  when  a  conservative  Republican  was 
elected.  At  times  some  of  the  Southern 
members  became  excited  and  made  extrav- 
agant statements.  They  accused  the  Re- 
publicans of  complicity  in  John  Brown's 
raid ;  they  censured  Seward  for  his  "  irre- 
pressible conflict "  speech  ;  and  they  threat- 
ened to  dissolve  the  Union  in  the  event  of 
the  election  of  a  Republican  President.  On 
one  dav  an  altercation  between  two  Illinois 
members,  on  another  a  hot  personal  dispute 
between  a  Southerner  and  Northerner,  end- 
ing in  a  challenge  to  personal  combat,^  helped 
to  keep  the  excitement  up  to  fever  heat.  A 
few  days  later  an  anti-Lecompton  Democrat 
from  New  York  was  making  )  itter  personal 
remarks  about  another  member  when  a 
pistol  accidentally  fell  to  the  floor  from  the 

1  (J  row,  tilt  '  jrtherner,  made  a  dignified  refusal. 


CHARLESTON  CONVENTION  n 

breast  pocket  of  his  coat.     Some  members 
thinkin-  that  he   had  intentionally   drawn 
the  weapon  rushed  towards  him  ready  for  a 
fight  if  one  should  ensue.     A  senator  from 
South  Carolina  wrote  in  a  private  letter,  "  I 
believe  every  man  in  both  Houses  is  armed 
with  a  revolver  — some  with  two  — and  a 
bowie  knife." »    Jefferson  Davis,  feeling  the 
responsibility   of  leadership,  was  generally 
guarded  in  the  expression  of  his  views,  but 
he  gave  the  Senate  to  understand  that  the 
Union  would   be  dissolved  if  Seward  was 
elected  President. 

We  are  now  in  the  year  I860,  a  year  for 
the  election  of  a  President.  As  arranged 
four  years  previously,  the  Democratic  Con- 
vention met  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
the  hotbed  of  disunion.     The  Douglas  dele- 

>ri,  424  et  ante.  "Mr.  Grow  (a  prominent  Republican 
J^presentatu-e)  told  the  writer  in  1895,  that,  during  the  period  just 
be  ore  the  U  ar,  every  „,ember  intended  as  much  to  take  h^revoL 
as  hKs  hat  when  he  went  to  the  Capitol.    For  some  time  a  New 

etfnti   "'  T,      '''  '"""'^  '"°  "  '=^«^^™-'  -"  *he  only 
xcepfon.     There  was  much  quiet  jesting  in  the  House  when  it 

lH>can.e  known  that  he,  too,  had  purchased  a  pistol."  Frederic 
Bancroft,  Life  of  W.  H.  Seward,  I,  503. 


IM 


u^ 


62       REPUBLICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1860 

gates  were  in  a  majority  and  adopted  their 
platform,  whereupon  the  delegates  from  the 
cotton  States  seceded  from  the  Convention. 
As  under  the  Democratic  rule,  it  required 
two-thirds  to  nominate  a  President,  and  as 
Douglas  could  not  secure  that  number,  the 
Convention  adjourned  to  meet  in  Baltimore 
forty-six  days  later.  There  Douglas  was 
finally  nominated,  but  as  soon  as  this  nomi- 
nation seemed  inevitable,  another  secession 
took  place  and  these  seceding  delegates, 
joined  by  most  of  those  from  the  Charleston 
Convention,  adopted  the  Southern  platform 
and  nominated  a  Southern  Democrat. 

In  the  meantime  the  most  interesting  of 
our  Conventions,  and  the  first  one  to  re- 
semble a  huge  mass-meeting,  was  held  in 
Chicago.  The  466  Republican  delegates 
met  in  a  wigwam,  a  temporary  frame  struc- 
ture, which,  it  was  said,  would  hold  ten 
thousand  people,  although  three  times  that 
number  of  strangers,  mostly  from  the 
Northwest,  clamored  for  admittance.  The 
conditions  for  serious  deliberation  were  un- 


REPUBLICAN  CONVENTION  OF   i860       63 
favorable,  yet  the  delegates  acted  as  wisely 
as  if  they  had  assembled  in  a  hall  fit  for 
conference  with  ample   leisure  and  a  suit- 
able  environment.     In  their  platform  thev 
asserted  that  the  rights  of  the  States  should 
be    maintained    inviolate;    denounced    the 
John   Brown     invasion     "as    among    the 
gravest    of    crimes";     inveighed    against 
the  new   dogma  that   the   Constitution  of 
Its  own  force  carries  slavery  into  the  terri- 
tories;   denied  "  the  authority  of  Congress, 
of  a  territorial  legislature  or  of  any  individ- 
ual to  give  legal   existence  to  slavery  in 
any  territory";   and  branded  "the   recent 
reopening  of  the  African  slave-trade  as  a 
burning  shame  to  our  country  and  age." » 
There  were  only  two  possible  nominees  for 
President,   Seward   and   Lincoln.      Seward 
had  wrought  in  the   vineyard   longer,  was 
considered   the   more    radical    of  the   two 
and    partly    for    tliis    reason    the    weaker 
candidate  in  four  of  the  so-called  doubtful 
States.     Lincoln  had  attracted  much  atten- 

» II,  464. 


m 


i\ 


64 


ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN 


tion  by  his  debates  with  Douglas  and  by 
a  noble  speech  made  in  February  in  New 
York  City.  He  received  the  nomination 
on  the  third  ballot.^ 

Our  presidential  election  is  made  by 
States,  each  State  choosing  the  same 
number  of  electors  as  slie  has  senators 
and  representatives  in  Congress.  Lincoln 
carried  all  of  the  free  States  except  New 
Jersey,  whose  electoral  vote  was  divided 
between  him  and  Douglas;  having  thus  a 
majority  of  the  electoral  votes,  he  was 
regularly  chosen  for  the  presidency  and 
would  enter  into  office  on  the  following 
4th  of  March." 

In  the  election  of  Line  in  the  North 
had  spoken.  In  every  man's  mind  rose 
unbidden  the  question,  What  would  be  the 
answer  of  the  South  1 


>  II,  470  et  ante. 


»U,  500. 


.m 


v; 


LECTURE  II 

FROM   LINCOLN'S   ELECTION,   1860,  TO  HIS  PROCLA- 
MATION OF  EMANCIPATION,  !'  „ 


.jo!ii 


TriRoiTGii  the  election   of  Li..jo:ri   -,e 
majority  of  the  Northern  r-     ,1     d^ichud 
that  slavery  was  wrong  an]        Mi\i  n.,    ijo 
extended.     The  sectional  .  luira  i' •     t     'e 
contest  is  clearly  manifest,  in;<srnf.a  na  in 
ten  out  of  the  eleven  States  tha<-  a^^•r^i .  jj, 
seceded  and  made  up  the  Southen      u.ifcci- 
eracy  Lincoln  did  not  receive  a  single  vote. 
As  soon  as  the  result  was  known,  South 
Carolina    led    off   with    a    prompt    reply. 
Since  1850,  disunion  sentiment  within  her 
borders  had  been  strong,  but  a  considerable 
opposition  had  always  existed.     Now,  the 
day  after  Lincoln's  election,^  the  majority  sud- 
denly expanded  to  unanimity.     The  crowd 
that   thronged    the    streets    of  Charleston 
felt   that   they    had   an   undoubted   griev- 

»  Nov.  6,  I860. 
'  65 


66 


REVOLUTION  OF  1860 


ance  and  that  their  sole  remedy  was  seces- 
sion. The  legislature  immediately  called  a 
convention,  an  act  that  was  received  with 
enthusiasm.  Speeches,  newspaper  leaders, 
sermons  from  the  pulpit  were  alike  in  their 
absolute  sincerity.  The  North  has  made  an 
attack  on  slavery,  our  cherished  institution 
—  so  ran  the  unanimous  contention  —  it  has 
encroached  upon  our  rights.  We  can  pre- 
serve our  liberty  and  our  property  only  by 
separation.  "The  tea  has  been  thrown 
overboard,  the  revolution  of  1860  has  been 
initiated."  It  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the 
misunderstanding  between  the  two  sections 
that,  while  eleven-twelfths  of  the  Northern 
voters  thought  the  South  had  lorded  it  over 
the  North  since  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
South  Carolinians,  almost  to  a  man,  and  a 
majority  in  the  cotton  States,  were  equally 
convinced  that  they  had  suflfered  grievous 
wrongs  at  the  hands  of  the  North.  A  phi- 
losoplicr,  living  in  the  South  but  sympathiz- 
ing with  the  North,  recalled  a  remark  of 
Thucydides    as    applying    to    the   present 


en 


DEPRESSION  IN  BUSINESS  G7 

situation :  "  The  Greeks  did  not  understand 
each  other  any  longer,  though  they  spoke 
the  same  language  ;  words  received  a  differ- 
ent meaning  in  different  parts." »     No  South 
Carolinian   would   have   asserted  that  any 
overt  act  of  oppression  had  yet  been  com- 
mitted, but  all  would  have  said  that  a  free 
people  must  strike  at  the   first  motion  of 
tyranny.     It  soon  became  apparent  that  the 
course  on  which  the  State  was  entering  with 
such  enthusiasm  involved  a  great  sacrifice. 
Business  went  from  bad  to  worse,  merchants 
found  it  difficult  or  even  impossible  to  pay 
their  debts  and  the  banks  of  Charleston  were 
forced  to  suspend  specie  payments.     Planta- 
tion slaves  could  be  sold  for  only  half  what 
they  would  have  brought  before  the  election 
of  Lincoln.     In  Charleston  the  value  of  all 
kinds  of  property  except  cotton   fell   fifty 
per  cent.     Nevertheless  the  people  showed 
no  sign  ot  faltering.     There  was  a  round  of 
meetings,  pole  raisings,  dedications  of  ban- 

>  Francis  Lieher.  11.  489.    Lieber  quoted  from  memory  and  gave 
a  free  translatiou.    See  Jowett,  III,  82. 


»"■; 


•t 


68 


ENTHUSIASM  IN  CHARLESTON 


Tiers,  fireworka  and  illuminations ;  and  the 
music  of  this  nascent  revolution  was  the 
Marseillaise.  The  delegates  who  composed 
the  Convention  were,  for  the  most  part, 
men  of  distinction,  whose  silver  hairs  were  a 
check  to  rash  and  impulsive  action,  yet, 
after  certain  methodical  preliminaries,  they 
speedily  adopted  the  ordinance  of  seces- 
sion by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  proclama- 
tion that  the  State  of  South  C^arolina  was 
an  independent  commonwealth  renewed  the 
enthusiasm  which  was  manifested  by  cries 
of  exultation  and  shouts  of  gladness  and 
the  other  usual  phenomena  of  popuL.r  re- 
joicing.^ 

In  the  meantime,  Congress  met  and  the 
country  looked  to  it  to  resolve  the  difficulty. 
It  has  been  asserted  that  if  our  government 
had  been  carried  on  by  a  responsible  min- 
istry like  that  of  England,  some  expedient 
would  have  been  devised  to  prevent  war ; 
but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have  always 
been  ready  in  time  of  emergency  to  borrow 

1111,114-125,  19-J-2<)ti. 


CONGRESS  AND  THE  CRISIS  69 

the   adaptable   political  machinery  of  any 
government   by    discussion.      The    Senate 
Committee   of  thirteen,  which  framed  the 
Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  resembled  a 
coahtion  ministry  and  now  a  Senate  Com- 
mittee of  the  same  number  was  appointed  to 
consider  "  the  grievances  between  the  slave- 
holding  and  the  non-slaveholding  States" 
and  to  suggest,  if  possible,  a  remedy,  which 
committee  calls  to  mind  the  "  Ministry  of 
all  the  Talents."     The  constitution  of  the 
Committee  was  eminently  fair,  each  party 
and  section  being  suitably  represented.     In 
ability,  character  and  influence  all  the  sen- 
ators  stood   high;    three   of  them,    Davis, 
Seward  and  Douglas,  were  leaders  of  public 
sentiment.     There    was   reason   to   believe 
that  if  the  Union  could  be  saved  by  act  of 
congress,  these  senators  would  discover  the 
way.     The  aim  of  compromisers  generally 
was  to  prevent  the  six  cotton  States  from 
following  South  Carolina  in  acts  of  secession 
and  to  keep  the  border  slave  States  in  the 
Union.     The  people  of  the  North  for  the 


70 


COMMITTEE  OF  THIRTEEN 


most  part  had  some  idea  of  tlie  peril  in 
which  the  Union  stood  and  they  believed 
that  in  these  thirteen  men  lay  the  best  hope 
of  an  acceptable  compromise.  It  was  in- 
deed a  rare  committee.  No  two  men  in  pub- 
lic life  stood  for  sentiments  so  diametricallv 
opposed  as  Seward  and  Jefferson  Davis,  yet 
they  were  on  friendly  social  tenns  and  had 
at  one  time  been  ultimate.  The  incessant 
and  bitter  factional  strife  of  seven  years 
could  not  sour  the  genial  nature  of  Douglas, 
who  was  prepared  to  extend  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship  to  every  man  on  the  com- 
mittee with  the  possible  exception  of  Davis. 
In  addition  to  a  willingness  to  sink  any 
personal  animosities,  he  also  stood  readv  to 
yield  somewhat  of  his  pohtical  views  in 
order  to  preserve  the  Union. 

The  Committee  of  "all  the  Talents" 
went  to  work  diligently  and  witli  the  sincere 
purpose  of  preventing  further  secessions. 
The  pivot  on  which  a  settlement  turned 
was  the  Crittenden  Compromise,  known 
from  the  name  of  its  author,  a  senator  and 


CRITTENDEN  COMPROMISE 


71 


member  of  the   Committee.     Amongst  its 
many  provisions,  the  really  important  one, 
involving  the  main  point  at  issue,  concerned 
the  status  of  the   temtories.     It  was  pro- 
vided that  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu- 
tion   should    reestablish    tlie    old    line    of 
the  Missouri  Compromise,   the  parallel   of 
36°  30',  as  the  boundary  between  slavery 
and   freedom ;    south   of  this   line   slavery 
should  l)e  protected,  north  of  it  prohibited. 
This  provision,  thougli  entirely  satisfactory 
to  both  the  Northern  Democratic  and  the 
border   State    senators,   Avas   by   no    means 
acceptable  to  tlio   cotton   States,  unless  it 
should  be  expressly  provided  or  understood 
that  the  protection  to  slavery  should  apply 
to  any  territory  subsequently  acquired  south 
of  tlie  compromise  line.' 

The  pressure  of  business  interests  at  the 
North  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  was 
strong.  The  depression  in  trade,  the  fever- 
ish and  panicky  condition  of  the  New  York 
stock  market,  the  suspension  of  specie  pay- 

>  III,  140  et  SCI]. 


i 


i     1 


72 


DEPRESSION  IN  TRADE 


ments  by  the  banks  of  Charleston,  Wash- 
ington, Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  the 
apprehended  repudiation  of  debts  due  the 
North  by  Southern  merchants,  the  payment 
by  the  government  of  interest  at  the  rate  of 
twelve  per  cent  per  annum  for  a  small  loan, 
—  all  these  developments  were  bound  to 
incline  Republican  senators  toward  some 
compromise  which  should  check  the  seces- 
sion movement.^  Esi)ecially  was  this  the 
case  of  Seward,  senator  from  New  York  and 
ii!  touch  with  the  great  city's  financial  in- 
t  ests,  leader  of  the  Republican  party  in 
tgress  and  a  confinned  opportunist  in 
itics.  He  never  pronounced  in  favor  of 
the  Crittenden  Compromise,  nor  on  the 
of^  v«r  hand  did  he  condemn  it.^  He  wa- 
vered, fti  d  if  he  could  have  secured  the  sup- 
port ot  Lincoln,  would  undoubtedly  have 
given  it  his  countenance.  The  influence  of 
the  two  would  have  carried  it  in  Committee 
and  secured  its  adoption  by  Congress,  pre- 

•111,171.251. 

'  III,  156  et  seq. ;  Bancroft,  Life  of  Seward,  II,  32-34. 


LINCOLN'S  ATTITUDE  78 

venting  further  secessions  and  for  the  mo- 
ment avoidinjj^  the  war. 

It  may  seem  curious  to  Englishmen  that 
in  a  pure  democracy  hke  ours,  so  long  an 
interval  should  elapse  between  the  election 
and  the  inauguration  of  a  President.     The 
election  of  1800  was  a  political  revolution, 
yet  not  until  four  months  after  Lincoln  was 
cliosen   did  he  assume   the  reins  of  office. 
In  the  interim,  he  exercised  a  large  influ- 
ence, but  it  was  wholly  indirect  and  in  the 
form   of  counsel   given   in  private   conver- 
sation or  personal  letter  to  senators,  repre- 
sentatives and   other   important  men.     He 
well  understood  the  needs  of  the  situation 
and,  having  offered  Seward  the  position  of 
Secretary  of  State,  the  leading  post  in  his 
Cabinet,    he    was   able    tlirough   him    and 
others  to   dictate  the   policy  of  liis  party. 
On  every  point  but  one,  Lincoln  was  willing 
to  compromise ;  on  the  question  of  the  ex- 
tension of  shivery  he  was  inflexible.     If  we 
yield   there,    he    wrote,  tlie   South    has    us 
under   again.     "  All   our  labor  is  lost   and 


74  CRITTENDEN  COMPROMISE  DEFEATED 

sooner  or  later  must  be  done  over.  The 
tug  has  to  come  now,  and  better  now  than 
later."  He  saw  clearly  that  if  the  line  of 
latitude  of  3G°  30'  should  be  drawn  between 
slavery  and  freedom,  filibustering  would 
recommence  and  through  this  and  other 
means,  the  South  would  seek  to  acquire 
Cuba,  Mexico  and  Central  America  in  order 
to  augment  the  slave  power  and  put  us 
again  "on  the  high  road  to  a  slave  empire."^ 
The  Republicans  tlierefore  defeated  the 
Crittenden  Compromise  in  committee ; '^  they 
then  came  forward  with  a  proposition  un- 
acceptable to  the  cotton  States.  On  De- 
cember 28,  1800,  the  Committee  adopted  a 
resolution  that  they  "  had  not  been  able  to 
agree  upon  any  general  plan  of  adjustment,"^ 
and  thus  gave  virtual  notice  to  the  country 
that  the  cotton  States  could  not  be  retained 
in  the  Union.  But  this  inference  that  sepa- 
ration must  follow,  though  obvious  enough 
to  the  historical  student  of  to-day,  was  by  no 

»  III,  160,  161.  269. 

•f  in.  154,  167;  Chadwick,  Causes  of  the  Civil  War,  172-181. 

»  III,  175,  178. 


CRITTENDEN  AND  DOUGLAS 
generally  drawn  at  the  tini 


7S 


means  generally  drawn  at  the  time.  Critten- 
den and  DouglaH,  nowise  despairing,  tried  to 
furtlier  the  original  plan  of  settlement  by 
plaeing  it  on  a  new  basis.  They  proposed 
the  submission  of  the  Crittenden  Compro- 
mise to  a  popular  vote,  having  a  well- 
grounded  confidence  that  a  large  majority 
of  the  country  would  favor  it.  Had  the 
referendum  been  as  i)opular  then  as  it  is 
now,  they  might  have  persuaded  Congress 
to  adopt  this  proposal,  but  the  Republican 
senators,  obviously  fearing  the  result,  never 
permitted  it  to  come  to  a  vote  in  the  Sen- 
ate.* The  House  of  Representatives  tried 
its  hand  at  compromise,  but  failed  to  agree 
upon  any  practicable  measure.  On  the  in- 
vitation of  Virginia,  the  largest  and  most 
important  border  slave  State,  a  Peace  Con- 
vention, made  up  of  notables  from  twenty- 
one  States,  assembled  in  Washinjrton  and 
threshing   "  the   straw   of   debate   anew "  ^ 

>  III,  253,  262. 

«  III,  ;506.  .Fames  Russell  Lowell's  comment  was  :  "  The  usual 
jmnacea  of  palaver  was  tried :  Congn'ss  .lid  its  beat  to  add  to  the 
general  confusion  of  thought;  and,  as  if  tliat  were  not  enough,  a 


I- 


76  aVIL  WAR  INEVITABLE 

adopted  n  plan  of  adjustment,  which,  car- 
ried as  it  was  by  a  narrow  margin  of  votes, 
liad  no  force  at  the  back  of  it  and  resultt^d 
in  nothing.* 

The  Civil  War  in  England,  wrote  Gardi- 
ner, "  was  rendered  inevitable  "  because  "  a 
reconciliation  between  opjiosing  moral  and 
social  forces  "  could  not  be  effected.^     Here 
is  an  exact  statement  of  our  own  case  in 
1861.     The   Civil    War   might   have   been 
averted  had  the  North  yielded  to  the  South 
and  in  the  words  of  Lincoln  ceased  refer- 
ences to  "  slavery  as  in  any  way  a  wrong  " 
and  regarded  it  "as  one  of  the  common 
matters  of  property  "  speaking  "  of  negroes 
as  we  do  of  our  horses  and  cattle."^     In 
other  words,  the  North  nmst  repress  its  own 
enlightened  sentiment  regarding  slavery  and 
ignore  that  of  England,  France,  Germany 


convention  of  notables  was  called  simultaneously  to  thresh  the 
straw  of  debate  anew  and  to  convince  thoughtful  persons  that  men 
do  not  grow  wiser  as  they  grow  older." 

»  III,  :505. 

'  History  of  the  Great  Civil  War,  I,  1. 

•  II,  332. 


SECESSION  A  PEOPLES  MOVEMENT      77 

and  Italy.  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  the  war 
might  have  been  prevented  had  the  South- 
erners had  a  change  of  heart,  reverted  to 
the  sentiment  of  the  founders  of  the  repub- 
lic that  slavery  was  an  eWl  and  agreed  to 
limit  its  extension.  The  logical  result  would 
have  been  gradual  abolition  and  the  North 
stood  ready  to  bear  her  share  in  compensat- 
ing the  owners  of  slaves.  But  anybody  who 
should  have  promulgated  such  a  doctrine  in 
the  South  in  1861  would  have  been  laughed 
at,  hooted  or  mobbed.* 

Secession  moved  apace.  The  conventions 
of  the  six  cotton  States  in  quick  succession 
passed  ordinances  dissolving  their  bonds 
with  the  Federal  Union.  The  movement 
was  of  the  people,  and  not  dictated  by  a 
dozen  or  a  hundred  conspirators,  sending 
forth  decrees  from  their  secret  conclaves  in 
Washington.  Legislatures  called  conven- 
tions of  the  people.  After  animated  can- 
vasses in  Alabama,  Georgia  and  Louisiana, 
and  a  full  understanding  of  the  matter  in  all 

» III,  269;  Chadwick,  Causes  of  the  Civil  War,  56, 


,  (1 


!t 


MICROCOPV   ReSOlUTKJN    TEST   CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No   2| 


^S-j.         't>'>3   tasl    Ua^-.    jireei 

•■^S         !    '6)   «82  -  0300  -  Phon, 
^IS        <"61   ?8S  -  5989  -Fc 


r      f 


78  ELECTION  OF  CONVENTIONS 

of  the  States,  the  question  in  the  popular 
elections  of  delegates  to  the  conventions  was 
really  put:    Shall  it  be  immediate  seces- 
sion, or  delay  with  the  endeavor  to  secure 
our  rights   within    the    Union?     and    the 
answer  was  always,  "  Immediate  secession." 
This  action  was  justified  in  accordance  with 
two  doctrines  which  had  been   maintained 
side  by  side  by  Calhoun,  the  great  leader  of 
the  South  after  the  fathers  of  the  Republic, 
—  the  rightfulness  of  slavery  and  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the   States.      The  Southerners 
saw  in  the  election  of  Lincoln  a  reproach 
that  they  were  living  in  the  daily  practice 
of  a  heinous  wrong,  and  rather  than  submit 
to  the  meddling  of  unfriendly  hands  with 
their  sacred  institution,  they  invoked  the 
remedy  of  secession   which   they  deemed 
their  undoubted  right,  because  the  Consti- 
tution was  a  compact  to  which  the  States 
were   parties   in   their  sovereign  capacity; 
and  they  bolstered  up  this  policy  with  the 
assertion  that  the  North  had  violated  that 
Constitution  by  opposing  the  extension  of 


DOCTRINE  OF  SECESSION  79 

slavery,  thus  denying  them  their  rights  in 
the  common  territories.^ 

Most    Europeans    are    struck  with    the 
strangeness   of  the   doctrine   of  secession; 
that,  in  its  organic  act,  the  nation  should  in 
effect  have  provided  for  its  own  dissolution, 
by  permitting  the  withdrawal  of  a  compo- 
nent part  or  parts,  on  the  ground  of  griev- 
ances, of  whose  vaUdity  the  aggrieved  should 
be  the  sole  judge.     Here  was  no  claim  of 
the  common  right  of  revolution.     The  cot- 
ton States  did  not  maintain  that  revolution 
was  justified,  but  that  in  the  delegation  of 
powers  to  the  Federal  government,  the  right 
of  withdrawal  from  the  Union  was  reserved ; 
this  right  they  now  exercised.     In  1861,  it 
was  an  open  question  in  the  United  States 
whether  the  Constitution  was  indeed  such  a 
compact.      The  North,  uifluenced   by  the 
teaching  of  Webster,  denied  the  right  of 
secession;  the  South,  swayed  by  Calhoun, 
asserted  it.     An  impartial  judge  must  have 
realized   that   there  were  two  sides  to  the 

» III,  273. 


If; 


i\ 


80 


SECESSION  UNWISE 


1.4 


dispute  ;  and  after  hearing  the  historical 
and  traditional  arj^uments,  he  might  have 
found  a  decision  difficult.  But  nothing  is 
clearer  than  that  the  right  of  secession 
would  never  have  been  invoked  save  for 
the  protection  of  slavery.^ 

From  the  point  of  view  of  political  expe- 
diency secession    was   thoroughly    unwise. 
The  election  of  Lincoln  did  not  carry  with 
it  a  liepublican  Congress ;  opposed  to  him 
was  a  majority  of  the  Senate  and  the  House 
of  Representatives  ;  and  every  justice  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court   except  one 
leaned  against  liis  policy.     Under  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  of  this  Court,  the  Southerners 
possessed  the  right  of  taking  their  slaves 
into  the  territories.     In  this  whole  contro- 
versy nobody  spoke  more  to  tlie  point  than 
Charles  Francis  Adams  when  he  termed  the 
alleged   grievances    of  the     South    "mere 
abstractions."     And  if  the  counsel  of  their 
wisest   leaders   could    have   prevailed,    the 
Southern  States  would  have  been  less  pre- 

>  III,  119  el  seq.,  203,  2S0. 


»]H 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS  81 

cipitate.  Prepare  yourselves  for  a  long  and 
bloody  war,  was  the  burden  of  Jefferson 
Davis's  speeches  to  his  followers  in  the 
course  of  his  progress  from  Washington  to 
the  capital  of  his  State.^  Very  different 
this  from  the  boast  —  which  was  common 
enough  —  that  the  North  was  so  absorbed 
m  money  getting  that  she  would  not  fight, 
or,  if  she  did,  that  one  Southerner  could 
"  whip  four  Yankees." 

The  ardor  and  confidence  of  the  people 
soon  reacted  upon  the  leaders  themselves. 
Delegates  of  seven  cotton  States  assembled 
m  Montgomery  to  form  a  Southern  Con- 
federacy. They  elected  Jefferson  Davis, 
the  ablest  statesman  of  the  South,  their 
President  and  adopted  a  permanent  Consti- 
tution with  few  essential  departures  from 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  three 
of  these  departures  concerned  negro  slavery. 
In  the  Confederate  Constitution  the  right  of 
property  in  negro  slaves  was  expressly 
stated ;  the  obligation  to  recognize  and  pro- 

^  UI,  297  etseq. 


1 


Mi 


82  CONFEDERATE  CONSTITUTION 

tect  slavery  in  any  new  territory  that  might 
be  acquired  was  finally  and  explicitly  im- 
posed on  the  Congress ;  and,  in  the  different 
provisions  relating  to  the  cherished  institu- 
tion   the   words   "slave"  and    "slavery" 
stood  forth    in   bold   veracity,  contrasting 
sharply  with  the  ingenious   circumlocution 
of  the  Federal  Constitution  in  which  the 
use   of  these   words  had  been    studiously 
avoided.      In  deference   to  the   opinion  of 
Christendom    the   foreign   slave-trade  was 
prohibited.     The  preamble  of  the  Constitu- 
tion affirmed  in  effect  the  right  of  secession 
and  called  attention  to  the  religious  character 
of  the  people  by  "invoking  the  favor  and 
guidance  of  Almighty  God."^ 

By  way  of  propitiating  England  and  se- 
curing, if  possible,  her  active  assistance,  it 
was  sometimes  asserted  at  the  South  that  one 
cause  of  the  secession  was  the  protective 
tariff,  which  was  alleged  to  have  been  forced 
upon  the  South  by  the  North.  And  some 
color  was  given  to  this  assertion  by  a  section 

im,  201,  320. 


TARIFF  AN  UNIMPORTANT  ISSUE         83 

of  the  Confederate  Constitution  which  for- 
bade the  imposition  of  duties  on  foreign  im- 
ports to  foster  any  branch  of  industry.     It 
was  difficult  during  the   war  to  persuade 
many  Englishmen  that  the  tariflf  was  not  at 
the  bottom  of  the  dispute,  although  in  truth 
it  was  a  very  unimportant  issue.     When 
Lincoln  was  elected,  the  tariff  of  1857  —  a 
revenue  tariff  of  something  less  than  twenty 
per  cent  —  was  in  operation  and  while  the 
Morrill  tariff  bill,  increasing  the  duties,  had 
passed  the  House,  it  could  not  have  passed 
the  Senate  except  for  the  secession  of  the 
seven  cotton  States  and  the  consequent  with- 
drawal of  fourteen  senators.     If  tho  cotton 
States  had  stipulated  for  a  continuance  of 
the  tariff  of  1857  as  a  necessary  condition  of 
their  remaining  in  the  Union,  this  demand 
would  have  been  joyfully  acceded  to ;  and 
their  approval  of  this  tariff  law  is  shown  by 
its  enactment  by  the  Confederate  Congress 
at  its  first  session.* 


5> 


187 


» ni,  58,  204,  294, 315,  322;  John  Sherman's  RecoUections,  I, 


84  SLAVERY  THE  CORNER-STONE 

In  the  once  proud  Union  there  were  now 
two  established  governments.     The  South- 
erners in  Montgomery  had  proceeded  in  an 
orderly  manner  and  made  it  evident  that 
they  shared  with  the  North   her  political 
aptitude.     Both  peoples  were  God-fearing, 
professed  the  same  religion,  spoke  the  same 
language,  read  the  same  literature,  revered 
the  same  Constitution,  had  similar  laws  and 
with   the  one  notable  exception  the  same 
institutions.     The    difference    was    frankly 
stated  by  the  Vice-President  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  who 
said :  The  foundations  of  our  new  govern- 
ment are  laid ;  "its  corner-stone  rests  upon 
the  great  truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal 
to  the  white  man ;  that  slavery  is  his  nat- 
ural and  normal  condition.  .  .  .     This  stone 
[the  doctrine  that   negro  slavery  is  right] 
which  was  rejected  by  the  first  builders  [the 
fathers  of  the  republic]  *  is  become  the  chief 
of  the  corner '  —  the  real  *  corner-stone  '  in 
our  new  edifice."^ 

» III,  324. 


85 


THE  INSTITUTION  OF  SLAVERY 

Evident  thougli  it  be  that  slavery  was  the 
cause  of  the  secession,  the  ingenuous  and  the 
thoughtful    (calling    to    mind    that    Plato 
believed    slavery   necessary   and   Aristotle 
deemed  it  "  both  expedient  and  right ")  must 
withhold  their  censure  from  the  slaveholders. 
No  American  can  forget  that  Washington 
and  Robert  E.  Lee,  two  of  the  noblest  prod- 
ucts  of  our  life,   were   owners  of  slaves. 
Again,  if  we  of  the  North    will    but  ask 
ourselves  what  would  have  happened  if  our 
Pilgrim  and  Puritan  ancestors  had  settled  in 
Virginia  instead  of  in  Massachusetts  and  we 
had  ourselves  inherited  slaves,  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  answer  otherwise  than  that  most 
of  us  would  have  fought  for  slavery. 

The  system  of  slavery  becomes  so  inter- 
woven with  the  political,  economic  and 
social  life  of  the  community  that  to  re- 
move it  is  to  endanger  the  whole  fabric. 
Willingly  to  renounce  it  would  be  little 
short  of  heroic ;  to  cUng  to  it  is  become 
second  nature.  If  "Cfcsar  was  the  entire 
and  perfect  man,"  and  if  slavery  in  Rome 


1 

^«5 


r 


86 


AMERICAN  SLAVEHOLDERS 


r  ^ 


It 


was  a  most  arrant  sin  and  abomination,  des- 
olating "God's  fair  world,"  as  Mommsen 
wrote,  how  difficult  was  this  evil  to  grapple 
with  may  be  realized  when  we  find  our 
historian  constrained  thus  to  apologize  for 
his  hero :  "  Ctvsar  could  not  abolish  slav- 
ery." 1  Add,  then,  a  difference  in  race  and 
color  between  the  master  and  the  slave  and 
the  problem  becomes  harder  still. 

Sympathy  rather  than  censure  is  the  due 
of  the   American   slaveholders.     The    evil 
left  its  mark  upon  the  Southern  gentleman, 
but   so    lightly   as   hardly   to   tarnish    his 
character,  for  he  relegated  the  repulsive  part 
of  slavery   to   unscrupulous   hirehngs,   the 
overseers  and  slave-traders.     Impetuous  and 
domineering,  quick  to  anger,  mainly  indif- 
ferent to  scientific  truth,  and  no  worshipper 
of  progress,   the   Southern   gentleman   be- 
longed  more   to   the  eighteenth   than   the 
nineteenth  century.^     It  is  regrettable  that 
these  slaveholders,   and  the  lawyers,  mer- 
chants and  doctors  who  united  with  them 

1  Mommsen,  IV,  546,  593,  621.  »  J,  359  el  seg 


PEACEABLE  SEPARATION  OR  WAR  87 
to  make  up  the  society  of  tlie  South,  did 
not  in  1861  follow  the  counsel  of  their  wiser 
leaders  and  seek  redress  in  tlie  Union,*  for 
slavery  was  safer  in  it  than  out  jf  it,  as  was 
foreshadowed  at  the  time  and  as  the  result 
proved.  But  passion  got  the  better  of 
reason  and  again  shaped  the  course  of  a 
great  people. 

Now  that  the  Southern  Confederacy  re- 
garded itself  as  established  by  the  regular 
procedure  in  Montgomery,  the  North*' had 
to  choose  between  peaceable  separation  and 
war.     Shortly  after  Lincoln's  election,  Gree- 
ley had  forcibly  advocated  in  the  New  York 
Tribune  the   policy   of  letting  the  cotton 
States  go  in  peace  ^  and  this  proposal  re- 
ceived at  different  times  considerable  sup- 
port in  the  North.     If  a  body  of  water  as 
wide  as  the  English  Channel  had  separated 
the  seven  cotton  States  from  the  rest  of  the 
Union,  such  would  have  been  the  solution. 


*  1 


i" 


i'' 


'  ni,  210. 

*  As  General  Scott  expressed  it  «  Wayward  sisters  depart  in 
peace."     Ill,  341. 


t 


KM 


^n4 


88   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  AND  ROBERT  E.  LEE 

but,  no  considerable  natural  barrier  existing, 
Lincoln  was  fully  justified  in  saying  in  his 
inaugural  address,  "  Physically  speaking  we 
cannot  separate."     On  the  other  hand,  the 
idea  of  preserving  the  Union  by  force  was 
regarded  with  abhorrence  by  the  two  heroes 
of  the  war  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Robert  E. 
Lee.     "  The  ugly  point,"  said  Lincoln,  « is 
the  necessity  of  keeping  the  government  to- 
gether by  force,  as  ouid  should  be  a  govern- 
ment  of   fraternity."  1     "A   union,"  wrote 
Lee,    "that  can    only   be   maintained   by 
swords   and  bayonets,  and  in  which  strife 
and  civil  war  are  to  take  the  place  of  broth- 
erly love  and  kindness,  has  no  charm  for 

f»  o 


"2 


h  I 


me. 

The  North  showed  its  disposition  to  pre- 
vent disunion  by  carrying  through  Con- 
gress by  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  guarantee- 
ing slavery  indefinitely  in  the  States ;  ^  in 
other  words  the  institution  would  have  been 
protected  where   it   already   existed.     This 

'  UI,  160,  317.  »  Long,  Life  of  Lee,  88.  »  ni,  313. 


LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS         89 

Amendment,  which  would  have  received 
the  necessary  ratification  by  the  States  had 
not  the  war  ensued,  was  numbered  the 
Thirteenth  and  the  mistake  that  the  South 
made  is  emphasized  by  the  contrast  with 
this  and  our  actual  Thirteenth  Amendment, 
adopted  four  years  later  which  abolished 
slavery  forever.^ 

On   March  4,  1861   Lincoln  was  peace- 
fully    inaugurated     in     Washington.      He 
delivered   an  address   that   was    moderate 
but  firm  and  to  the  point,  announcing  that 
he    had    no    purpose    of  interfering    with 
slavery  in  the  States,  denying  the  right  of 
secession  and  declaring  that  he  would  en- 
force  the   law  in  all  the  States,  using  his 
power  to  hold   "the   property   and  places 
belonging  to  the  government,  and  to  collect 
the   duties   and  imposts."      This  last  dec- 
laration  irritated   the    South,    as    she    was 
determined    to    resist    by    force   any    such 
action  on  the  p..rt  of  the  President.-     The 
only  question  now  was  when  and  where 


'  V,  50. 


*  HI,  316. 


90 


FORT  SUMTER 


'  > 


the  Wear  would  begin  ;  and  it  seemed  almost 
certain    that    Fort    Sumter    in    Charleston 
Harbor  with  its  garrison  of  United  States 
troops  would  furnish  the   occasion  for  the 
first  clash.     The  surrender  of  this  fort  had 
been  demanded  by  South  Carolina  and  later 
by    the    Southern    Confederacy.     Lincoln 
seemingly  confronted  with  the  alternative 
pohcy  of  surrender  or  reenforcement  of  the 
garrison,    decided   on   neither,  but  as  pro- 
visions were  running  short,  he  adopted  the 
plan  of  sending  supplies.     South  Carolina 
was  notified  of  this  decision  by  the  President 
himself;  Montgomery,   by  South  Carolma. 
The  result  was  a  demand  for  the  evacua- 
tion of  Fort  Sumter,  refusal,  bombardment, 
artillery  duel  between  Sumter  and  the  Con- 
federate batteries  lasting  thirty-four  hours 
and,  in  the  end,  surrender.^ 

April  12,  18(jl  is  the  notable  day  of 
the  commencement  of  our  Civil  War  by 
the  firing  of  the  Confederate  guns  upon  the 
United   States    flag.     At    the    time    when 

»m,  337,  34Ce<iiej. 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  CIVIL  WAR         91 

Lincoln  decided   on  sending  provisions  to 
Fort   Sumter,  both  he  and  Davis  had  un- 
doubtedly  come   to   believe   that  war  was 
inevitable   and  each  was  anxious  to  avoid 
striking  the  first  blow  because  of  its  prob- 
able   effect    on    public    sentiment    it    the 
North.     Davis  had  good  reason  to  regret 
that  matters  so  fell  out  that  the  South  be- 
came  the  aggressor,  while  Lincoln   might 
well  be  grateful  for  the  blunder  that  gave 
him  in  his  time  of  trouble  a  united  North. 
Still  praying  and  hoping  that  actual  hostili- 
ties  might  be   averted,   the  people  of  the 
North  were  profoundly   moved  when  they 
realized   that   civil   war   had   begun.     The 
shots  fired  at  Sumter  convinced  everybody 
that  the  time  for  argument  and  compromise, 
of  discussion    and    entreaty    had    passed; 
that  the  dispute  was  not  to  be  settled  by 
Congress    or    by    conventions,    or    at    the 
ballot-box  and  that  this  peace-loving  people 
must  suspend  their  industrial  activities  and 
prepare  for  the  stress  of  war.     When  the 
President  called  for  75,000  militia  to  sup- 


■1 


^  ■  : 


92  UPRISING  OF  THE  NORTH 

press  combinations  obstructing  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws  in  seven  of  the  Southern 
States,  they  gave  their  approval  as  with  a 
single  voice  and  rose  almost  as  one  man  to 
his  support.     In  this  uprising  of  the  people, 
their    blood    was    stirred    as    it    had    not 
been  stirred  since  the  Union  was  formed. 
Militia  regiments   and   military  companies 
which  had  been  organized  merely  for  the 
purpose   of  exercise,  for  social  intercourse 
or    for    Fourth-of-July    parades,    hastened 
to  prepare  themselves  for   actual   fighting. 
Men  who  had  never  dreamed  of  a  soldier's 
life   were   now  eager  to  enlist.     Working- 
men,  mechanics,   clerks,  students  and  pro- 
fessors of  the  colleges,  many  sons  of  wealthy 
and  influential  fomilies  enrolled  themselves 
at   once   for  the   common  cause.     Men  of 
position  in  civil  life  went  out  as  officers  of 
companies  and  regiments,  but  when   such 
places  were  lacking  they  shouldered  mus- 
kets and  served  in  the  ranks.     Individuals, 
towns,    cities    and    States    offered    money 
freely.     Patriotism  spoke  from  the  pulpit, 


UPRISING  OF  THE  NORTH  93 

the    platform,    the    stump    and    with    the 
voice  of  the  press.     "  The  attack  on  Fort 
Sumter,"  wrote  Emerson,  "  crystallized  the 
North  into  a  unit."     The  feeling  that  the 
South  had  been  precipitate   and  unreason- 
able   and    that    she    was    clearly    in    the 
wrong  was  almost  universal.     That  she  had 
wickedly   rebelled,    had   without  just    and 
sufficient  cause  begun  a  civil  war,  well  ex- 
pressed the  sentiment  of  those  who,  after 
listening   to   passionate    utterances    at   the 
public  meetings,  went   straightway   to   the 
enlisting  officer  and  enrolled  themselves  as 
volunteers.      The    speakers    declared   that 
the  people   must  preserve   the   Union   and 
maintain   the    government;    and   this   was 
clearly  the  puri^ose  in  the  minds  of  those 
who    enlisted  during   the   first   months   of 
the  war.  * 

The  people  of  the  Confederate  States 
were  elated  over  the  bombardment  and 
evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter.  They  regarded 
Lincohi's  call  for  troops  as  a  declaration  of 

'  III,  357. 


11 


M 


\. 


m 


^hi 


i:\ 


94 


UPRISING  OF  THE  SOUTH 


war,  forcing  them  to  arm  for  the  defence 
of  their  property  and  their  liberties.  Be- 
lieving in  the  constitutional  right  of  seces- 
sion, they  regarded  his  attempt  to  coerce 
them  back  into  the  Union  as  nothing  less 
than  a  measure  for  their  subjugation.  The 
uprising  of  men  and  the  proffers  of  money 
matched  those  which  were  forthcoming  at 
the  North.  The  best  blood  offered  itself 
to  fight  for  country  and  cherished  rights.* 

It  has  been  said  that  the  American  Civil 
War  was  remarkable  in  that  it  was  waged 
on  account  of  a  difference  of  constitutional 
interpretation.  The  support  for  this  state- 
ment is  that  each  side  obscured  the  real 
reason  why  it  submitted  its  cause  to  the 
God  of  Battles,  the  South  maintaining  that 
they  fought  for  the  sovereign  rights  of 
States,  the  North  because  they  resisted  the 
dissolution  <  "  the  Union.  Whether  the 
ostensible  or  ^ae  real  reason  of  the  war  be 
considered,  there  is  something  inspiring  in 
the  thought   that  these  two  peoples  threw 

» III,  381. 


il^, 


THE  UNION— THE  CONFEDERACY        95 


aside  money-getting  and  sordid  calculation 
and  entered  on  a  course  of  self-sacrifice  for 
the  sake  of  principle. 

The  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  and  the  Presi- 
dent's call  for  troops  decided  at  once  the 
course  of  Virginia.  Two  days  after  Lin- 
coln's proclamation,  her  convention  passed 
an  ordinance  of  secession,  and,  in  recogni- 
tion of  the  importance  of  her  adhesion,  her 
chief  city,  Richmond,  was  made  the  capital 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  Three  other 
slave  States  quickly  followed  her  example 
and  became  constituent  parts  of  the  new 
government.^  Three  of  the  border  slave 
States,  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Missouri 
were  kept  in  the  Union  by  good  manage- 
ment, the  chief  measure  of  which  was  the 
executive  skill  and  energy  of  Lincoln.^ 

The  Union  of  twenty-three  States  and 
the  Confederacy  of  eleven  were  now  defi- 
nitely arrayed  against  each  other.  Twenty- 
two  million  people  confronted  nine  million, 
and  of  the  nine  milhon  three  and  a  half 


f 


>\h 


ini,  383,  385,  39G. 


«III,  388e<«j. 


I! 


I  ■ 


I 


i 

*  'i 


06 


THE  NORTH— THE  SOUTH 


million  were  slaves.     The  proportion   was 
nearly  that  of  five  to  two.     The  Union  had 
much  greater  wealth,  was   a  country  of  a 
complex    civilization    and    boasted    of   its 
various  industries;   it   combined  the  farm, 
the  shop  and  the  factory.      The  Confeder- 
acy was  but  a  farm,  dependent  on  Europe 
and  on  the  North  for  everything  but  bread 
and  meat,  and  before  the  war  for  much  of 
these.     The  North  had  the  money  market 
and  could  borrow  with   greater   ease   than 
the   South.      It  was   the   iron   age.      The 
North  had  done  much  to  develop  its  wealth 
of  iron,  that  potent  aid  of  civilization,  that 
necessity  of  war;   the   South  had  scarcely 
touched   its    own    mineral    resources.      In 
nearly  every  Northern  regiment   were  me- 
chanics  of  all  kinds  and  men  of  business 
training  accustomed  to  method  in  their  daily 
lives,  while  the  Southern  army  was  made  up 
of  gentlemen  and  poor  whites,  splendid  fight- 
ers, of  rare  courage  and  striking  devotion, 
but  as  a  whole  inferior  in  education  and  in 
a  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  appliances  of 


TASK  OF  THE  SOUTH  VT 

modern  life  to  the  men  of  the  North.  The 
Union  had  the  advantage  of  the  regular 
army»  and  navy,  of  the  flag  and  of  the 
prestige  and  machinery  of  the  national 
government;  the  ministers  from  foreign 
countries  were  accredited  to  the  United 
States ;  the  archives  of  what  had  been  the 
common  government  were  also  in  possession 
of  the  Union. 

The  Southern  people,  in  their  pursuit  of 
independence,  were  by  no  means  dismayed 
at  the  spectacle  of  the  united  North  and  the 
odds  of  number  and  wealth  against  them. 
Did  not  the  Grecians,  they  asked,  vanquish 
Xerxes,  did  Phihp  of  Spain  subdue  Hol- 
land? Nevertheless,  in  making  the  eflfort 
to  gain  their  independence,  the  Southern 
people  had  undertaken  a  stupendous  task ; 
they  had  started  out  on  a  road,  the  end  of 
which  was  at  best  doubtful ;  they  had  gone 
to  an  extreme,  before  proceeding  to  which 
it  would  have  been  better  to  endure  some- 

*  17,000  men  when  Lincoln  was  inaugurated.    Nicolay  and  Hay, 

I^^  65. 


y- 


Ir- 


.  m: 


hi  i 


96 


THE  TASK  OF  THE  NORTH 


what  of  grievance.  They  said  they  were 
fighting  for  liberty,  yet  they  must  shoulder 
the  burden  of  their  own  denial  of  liberty  to 
three  and  a  half  million  human  beings. 
They  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  only 
community  of  the  Teutonic  race  which  did 
not  deem  human  slavery  wrong;  in  their 
social  theory,  they  had  parted  company 
with  England,  France,  Germany  and  Italy, 
and  were  ranged  with  Spain  and  Brazil. 

The  aim  of  the  Northern  men  was  to  save 
the  Union,  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the 
nation.  They  had  undertaken  to  conquer 
the  wills  of  five  and  one-half  million  people 
—  a  community  as  advanced  as  themselves, 
except,  owing  to  their  peculiar  institution,  in 
the  arts  and  manufactures,  in  business  train- 
ing and  in  scientific  thought,  and  apparently 
their  superiors  in  certain  quahties  which  go 
to  make  up  the  soldier.  Moreover,  the 
nature  of  the  conflict  required  the  Northern 
troops  to  take  the  offensive  by  marching 
into  the  Confederate  States;  the  fighting 
must  be  on  Southern  soil.     Not  the  defence 


LINCOLN  90 

of  Washington  but  the  taking  of  Richmond 
was  the  task  before  them.  For  such  war- 
fare, the  ratio  of  five  to  two  in  population 
was  none  too  great,  and  required  to  be  sup- 
ported by  the  actual  superiority  in  wealth 
and  in  industrial  resources.  Had  the  dis- 
parity been  less,  the  North  might  have 
failed,  especially  as  the  expectation  of  the 
South  tliat,  by  an  exchange  of  its  cotton 
with  Europe,  it  would  be  able  to  supply 
itself  with  the  implements  and  munitions  of 
war,  and  the  necessaries  of  life  seemed  by 
no  means  extravagant.^ 

The  preponderating  asset  of  the  North 
proved  to  be  Lincoln.  Himself  one  of  the 
"  plain  people  "  he  both  represented  and  led 
them;  between  the  day  of  the  firing  on 
Sumter  and  the  4th  of  July  following,  when 
he  called  Congress  together  in  special  ses- 
sion, he  gained  a  clear  conception  of  the 
nature  of  the  contest  and  reaHzed  that  he 
might  carry  it  on  successfully  as  long  as  he 
had  the  support  of  pubHc  sentiment.    When 

1  III,  397  et  seq. 


!■", 


100 


LINCOLN'S  POWER 


^^'1 


'a 


\f 


■  j 


he  addressed  Congress,  he  had  also  the  peo- 
ple ill  mind  and  he  appealed  to  them  with 
lasting  effect.  lie  needed  their  support,  as 
his  proclamation,  ordering  a  substantial 
increase  ot*  the  army  and  navy,^  and  his 
authorization  to  the  commanding  general,  in 
proper  cases,  according  to  his  discretion,  to 
suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  were  stretches  of  constitutional 
authority.^  The  minister  from  the  Hanse- 
atic  towns  to  Washington,  a  shrewd  ob- 
server withal,  wrote  that  Lincoln  exercised 
unlimited  power,  to  as  great  an  extent,  if 
not  even  greater,  than  Louis  Napoleon,  the 
only  difference  being  that  the  Emperor  had 
i\Q  army  and  the  President  the  people  at 
his  back.' 

In  purely  political  matters,  Lincoln  had 
not  his  equal  in  public  life  but  this  country 

*  42,034  volunteers  for  three  years ;  22,714  for  the  regular 
army;  18,000  for  the  navy.     111,394. 

'  Congress  indemnified  him  for  his  act  in  increasing  the  army 
and  navy,  but  did  not  come  to  a  vote  on  the  habeas  corpus  matter. 
Ill,  438.  See  also  Lincoln,  Complete  Works,  II,  59 ;  Nicolay  and 
Hay,  IV,  176. 

•  m,  442. 


DAVIS  — LEE 


101 


attorney  of  Illinois  was  now  become  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  army  and  navy  of 
the  United  States ;  having  received  neither 
practical  military  training  nor  theoretical 
I  instruction  he  was  suddenly  called  upon  to 

conduct  a  great  war.  In  this  respect  his 
marked  inferiority  to  Jefferson  Davis  was 
striking.  Davis  was  a  graduate  from  the 
Military  Academy  of  West  Point,  had 
served  brilliantly  as  colonel  during  the  war 
with  Mexico  and  afterwards  had  for  four 
years  made  an  efficient  head  of  the  Unite 
States  War  Department.^ 

Lincoln,  conscious  of  his  deficiency,  made 
an  unofficial  offer  of  the  active  command  of 
the  Union  forces  to  Robert  E.  Lee,  the 
officer  in  the  United  States  service  who  had 
the  most  worthy  record  and  gave  the  best 
promise  of  capable  leadership.  Lee  declined 
the  offer  for  the  reason  that  he  could  take 
no  part  in  an  invasion  of  the  Southern 
States,  resigned  his  connnission,  accepted 
the  generalship  of  the  Virginia  forces  and 

» I,  389. 


\'f 


'f^M 


102 


ROBERT  E.  LEE 


.1 


m 


•ii 


eventually  became  commander  of  the  army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  the  most  important 
and  the  most  celebrated  army  of  the  South- 
em  Confederacy.* 

If  Lee  had  seen  his  duty  in  the  same 
light  as  did  two  other  well-known  Virginia 
officers,  Scott  and  Thomas,  who  steadfastly 
adhered  to  the  Union,  Lincoln  would  have 
had  a  right  arm  and  the  war  would  have 
been  shorter.  Lee  was  drawn  in  both  ways. 
He  had  a  soldier's  devotion  to  the  flag  and 
loved  the  Union,  which  was  especially  dear 
to  him  as  product  of  the  labor  of  Washing- 
ton ;  he  deemed  "  slavery  as  an  institution 
a  moral  and  political  evil."  Although  be- 
lieving that  Northern  aggressions  had  given 
the  South  just  cause  of  grievance  he  did  not 
consider  the  grievance  sufficiently  acute  for 
resort  to  revolution  —  and  to  him  secession 
meant  nothing  less.  Nevertheless  when 
Virginia  seceded,  his  notion  of  States'  rights 
seconded  by  a  strong  feeling  of  allegiance  to 
his  State  prevailed,  after  a  painful  struggle, 

1111,365,380;  IV,  29. 


ROBERT  E.  LEE  io3 

over  all  other  considerations.  A  careful 
survey  of  his  life  and  character  is  perfectly 
convincing  as  to  the  motives  leading  to  this 
momentous  decision ;  a  liigh  sense  of  honor 
pointed  the  way,  a  pure  and  inexorable  con- 
science approving. 

Lee,    now  fifty-four,  showed   in  his  face 
the  ruddy  glow  of  health  whilst  his  head 
was  as  yet  untinged  with  gray.     Physically 
and  morally  he  was  a  splendid  example  of 
manhood.     Tra.  ;ig  his  hneage  far  back  in 
the  mother-country  and  having  in  his  veins 
the  best  of  Virginian  blood,  he  seemed  to 
have  inherited  all  the  virtues  of  a  chivalrous 
race  without  any  of  their  vices.     Honest, 
sincere,    simple,   magnanimous,   forbearing, 
courteous  and  dignified,  he  was  at  the  same 
time  sensitive  on  points  of  honor  but  was 
generally  successful  in  keeping  a  high  tem- 
per under  control.      After  his  graduation 
from  West  Point,  his  life  had  been  exclu- 
sively that  of  a  soldier,  yet  he  had  none  of  a 
soldier's    bad    habits.      He    used     neither 
spirits  nor  tobacco,   indulged  rarely  in   a 


ii 


104 


ROBERT  E.  LEE 


^  ' 


lip 


social  glass  of  wine,  and  cared  nothing  for 
the  pleasures  of  the  table.  He  was  a  good 
engineer  and  had  won  distinction  in  the  war 
with  Mexico.  The  work  that  was  assigned 
him  had  been  performed  in  a  systematic 
manner  and  with  conscientious  care.  "  Duty 
is  the  sublimest  word  in  our  language,"  he 
wrote  to  his  son.  Sincerely  religious. 
Providence  was  to  him  a  verity  and  it  may 
be  truly  said  that  he  walked  with  God.  In- 
deed in  all  essential  characteristics,  Lee  re- 
sembled Washington  and,  had  the  great 
work  of  his  life  been  crowned  with  success 
or  had  he  chosen  the  winning  side,  the 
world  would  doubtless  have  acknowledged 
that  Virginia  could  in  a  single  century  pro- 
duce two  men  who  were  the  embodiment  of 
public  and  private  virtue.^ 

Before  composing  the  fine  battle-pieces 
in  his  history  of  Frederick  the  Great, 
Carlyle  wrote,  "  Battles  ever  since  Homer's 
time,  when  they  were  Fighting  Mobs,  have 
mostly  ceased  to  be  worth  reading  of.  .  .  . 

» III,  411. 


BULL  RUN 


105 


How  many  wearisome  bloody  Battles  does 
History  strive  to  represent !  "  *  Although 
the  thoroughgoing  history  of  a  war  must  of 
necessity  be  largely  one  of  campaigns  and 
battles,  it  will  be  my  aim  in  these  lectures 
to  treat  briefly  of  this  phase  of  my  subject 
and  to  dwell  on  the  salient  characteristics 
of  the  conflict  and  their  bearing  on  its  issue 
rather  than  on  the  sequence  of  movements 
of  the  armies  engaged. 

"  Bull  Run,"  the  first  battle,  was  precipi- 
tated by  the  North  in  the  hope  of  opening 
a  way  for  the  capture  of  Richmond.  On  a 
hot  July  day  (1861),  a  Union  army,  com- 
posed for  the  most  part  of  green  soldiers, 
attacked  an  equal  number  of  Confederates 
likewise  green.-  The  first  charge  resulted 
in  the  baptism  of  General  Thomas  J.  Jack- 
son, with  a  name  that  exactly  suited  his  con- 
duct on   this  occasion.     The  Confederates 

»  French  Revolution,  Book  VII,  Chap.  IV. 

*  In  tlie  Northern  army  were  nearly  1600  regulars  and  three 
Massachusetts  regiments  which  since  January  had  had  somewhat 
of  drill.  In  the  Southern  army  were  five  South  Carolina  regi- 
ments and  the  Hampton  Legion  which  had  been  under  discipline 
more  than  six  mouths.     Ill,  444,  451. 


ih 


106 


BULL  RUN 


i 


i 


ill, 


uH 


t ! 


IS  I] 


were  in  full  retreat  and  as  they  ran  up  the 
slope  of  a  plateau  they  saw  his  brigade 
standing  in  Hne  calmly  awaiting  the  onset, 
an  example  and  encouragement  to  the 
panic-stricken  host,  whose  general  cried  out, 
"  Look  at  Jackson !  There  he  stands  like  a 
stone  wall ! "  ^  As  "  Stonewall "  Jackson  he 
was  known  till  the  day  of  his  death  and 
ever  afterwards. 

The  battle  was  eventually  decided  by  a 
timely  reenforcement  at  a  critical  moment  of 
2300  Confederates.  The  Union  troops 
broke  and  ran.  The  volunteers'  retreat 
became  a  rout  and  then  a  panic.  "  A  con- 
fused mob  entirely  demoralized'"^  fled  to 
the  shelter  of  the  fortifications  near  Wash- 
ington. 

The  North,  although  amazed  and  bitterly 
disappointed  at  this  reverse,  was  not  long 
inactive.  A  second  uprising  took  place. 
Under  authority,  previously  given  to   the 

»  III,  447. 

»  McDowell,  the  general  in  command,  telegraphed,  "  The  larger 
part  of  the  men  are  a  confused  mob  entirely  demoralized."  Ill, 
460. 


SECOND  UPRISING  OF  THE  NORTH     107 

President  by  Congress  to  accept  the  ser- 
vices of  500,000  volunteers,  recruiting  went 
on  with  vigor,  and  the  time  for  which  men 
engaged  themselves  was  three  years  or  dur- 
ing the  war.  In  a  week  the  North  had 
recovered  from  its  dejection,  prepared  for 
a  long  conflict.  The  South  received  her 
great  victory  with  a  quiet  sense  of  tri- 
umph and  expressions  of  profound  grati- 
tude to  Jehovah,  who  had  wrought  so 
powerfully  in  her  behalf.  It  was  believed 
that  the  North,  far  from  giving  up  the  con- 
test, would  be  spurred  to  redoubled  c.orts 
by  the  initial  repulse.* 

Because  of  some  minor  successes  in  West- 
ern Virginia,  Lincoln  and,  in  the  main,  the 
country,  thought  they  had  discovered  an  able 
general  in  McClellan,  and  he  was  forthwith 
placed  in  command  of  the  troops  around 
Washington,  to  whom  he  gave  the  designa- 
tion of  "  Army  of  the  Potomac."  He  was 
an  excellent  organizer  and  well  versed  in 
the  theory  of  his  profession.     After  he  had 

» III,  456. 


108 


THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC 


aV 


9*         f 

■1 

s 

> ' 

I 


been  in  command  a  little  over  a  month 
William  H.  Russell  wrote  to  the  Times, 
"  Never  perhaps  has  a  finer  body  of  men  in 
all  respects  of  physique  been  assembled  by 
any  power  in  the  world,  and  there  is  no 
reason  why  their  morale  should  not  be  im- 
proved so  as  to  equal  that  of  the  best  troops 
in  Europe."  ^  But  McClellan  was  no  fighter. 
Nursing  the  delusion  that  the  Confederate 
force  in  front  of  him  was  equal  to  his  own 
he  would  not  attack,  although  he  really  out- 
numbered them  three  to  one.  Russell,  who 
was  a  keen  observer  and  had  visited  the 
South  —  who  had,  moreover,  witnessed  the 
rout  at  Bull  Run  —  thought  that  McClellan 
ought  to  beat  the  enemy  "  in  spite  of  their 
advantages  of  position."  ^  But  as  Lowell  ex- 
pressed it,  "  Our  chicken  was  no  eagle  after 
all."^  Anthony  TroUope,  who  paid  us  a 
visit  at  this  time,  wrote  that  "  belief  in  Mc- 
Clellan seemed  to  be  shpping  away."*  But 
the  general  continued  to  drill  and  organize 
the  troops,  h'tting  slip  an  extraordinary  op- 


1111,493. 


="111.495. 


•Ill,  499. 


*  III,  579. 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 


log 


portunity  for  striking  a  decisive  blow.  With 
the  end  of  the  year  1861,  eight  months  and 
more  of  war  had  accomplished  nothing 
towards  bringing  back  into  the  Union  a 
single  Confederate  State.  On  the  contrary 
the  shedding  of  blood  had  made  the  chasm 
wider. 

In  February  1862  hope  came  from  the 
Southwest  where  Ulysses  S.  Grant  won  an 
important  victory.  Having  invested  Fort 
Donelson*  lie  repulsed  a  sortie  and  forced 
the  Confederate  garrison  to  surrender,  inci- 
dentally acquiring  the  name  expressive  of 
his  resolute  character.  The  Confederate 
general  asked  for  terms.  None  but  "Un- 
conditional Surrender"  was  Grant's  reply: 
U.  S.  being  the  initials  of  his  name,  he  be- 
came known  thenceforth  as  "  Unconditional 
SuiTcnder  Grant."^  The  North  rejoiced  with 
exuberance  if  somewhat  prematurely.  "  The 
underpinning  of  the  lebellion  seems  to  be 
knocked  out  from  under  it,"  wrote  Chase.^ 

*  In  the  State  of  Tennessee  on  the  Cumberland  River. 
« III,  593. 

*  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.     Ill,  oaS. 


i. 


>  \i 


r^ 


f 
t 


k 

y 


i\ 


I 


'    , 


110 


FALL  OF  FORT  DONELSON 


When  Doctor  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  went 
into  his  lecture  room  at  the  Harvard  Medical 
School,  the  class  began  clapping  loudly,  then 
cheering,  until,  in  his  own  words,  **I,  a  grave 
college  professor,  .  .  .  had  to  give  in  myself, 
and  flourishing  my  wand  in  the  air,  joined 
with  the  boys  in  their  rousing  hurrahs."^ 

The  fall  of  Donelson  was  to  the  South 
what  Bull  Run  had  been  to  the  North,^  the 
first  serious  reverse  and  doubly  bitter,  for 
that  matter,  inasmuch  as  the  inactivity  of 
the  Anny  of  the  Potomac  following  upon 
Bull  Run  itself  had  led  the  Confederates  to 
believe  that  in  the  field  they  were  invinci- 
ble. During  the  period  of  dejection  that 
ensued,  the  permanent  government  of  the 
Confederacy  was  established  and  Davis  was 
inaugurated  President  in  Richmond  for  a 
term  of  six  years.^  On  his  recommendation, 
the  Confederate  Congress  passed  a  conscrip- 


h ! 


J  III,  598. 

*  In  connection  with  the  capture  of  Fort  Henry  on  the  Ten- 
nessee River  ten  days  earlier.     Ill,  .582. 

»  The  government  of  the  Confederacy  was  carried  on  for  one 
year  under  the  provisiouai  coustituiiou  and  the  legislative  body 


MERRIMAC  AND  MONITOR  HI 

tion  act  requiring  of  all  white  men  between 
the  ages  of  eighteen  and  thirty-five  three 
years  of  military  service.^  It  was  nearly  a 
year  later  that  the  North  was  forced  to  adopt 
this  rigorous  but  just  method  of  carrying  on 
a  war. 

Less  than  a  month  after  Donelson,  oc- 
curred the  fight  between  the  Merrimac  and 
the  Monitor,  which  attracted  especial  atten- 
in  England  as  it  was  the  first  encounter  be- 
tween ironclads.  The  Jferrimac  had  with 
the  utmost  ease  destroyed  two  wooden  ves- 
sels of  war,  and  was  preparing  for  further 
blows  to  be  directed  against  the  blockade  of 
Southern  ports  — an  indispensable  condition 
of  Northern  success  —  when  she  was  inter- 
cepted and  engaged  by  the  Monitor.  The 
battle  demonstrated  that  the  Merriniac  could 
be  held  in  check  :  she  did  no  further  dam- 
age.'' 


was  called  the  provisional  Congress.  Davis  was  President  of  the 
Confederacy  under  this  temporary  organization.  The  first  Con- 
gress under  the  permanent  Constitution  met  Feb.  18,  1862,  four 
days  previous  to  Davis's  inauguration.      Ill,  3J2.  600. 

'  "^'  ^^^-  "  III,  608  et  seq. 


u   \ 


112 


CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS 


t 


'-\ 


s 


n  I 


*  ■ 


The  effective  work  of  the  Union  navy  was 
further  seen  in  the  taking  of  New  Orleans, 
a  city  of  1()8,000  inhabitants,  the  chief  com- 
mercial port  and  the  largest  city  of  the 
South.  It  was  "  the  crowning  stroke  of  ad- 
verse fortune  "  said  the  Confederate  Secre- 
tary of  War.^  New  Orleans  was  so  well  known 
in  Europe  as  an  important  trading  point  that 
its  capture  had  a  profound  effect  on  opinion 
in  England  and  France."  Could  these  suc- 
cesses be  followed  up  by  others,  the  North 
might  speedily  triumph  but  it  was  soon  to  ap- 
pear that  Fate  had  decreed  otherwise.  When 
it  seemed  as  if  "  that  rare  son  of  the  tem- 
pest,"^ a  great  commander,  had  appeared, 
Grant  through  carelessness,  allowed  his 
prestige  to  fade.  Partially  surprised  at 
Shiloh,  he  converted  a  defeat  into  a  drawn 
battle  only  by  a  timely  reenforcement  and 
with  enormous  loss.  His  record  in  the  reg- 
ular army,  seven  years  before  the  civil  war, 
had  been  clouded  by  habits  of  intemperance. 


»  Official  Records  Series  IV,  IT,  281.  «  III,  630. 

'  Parku:an,  Jloutcuhu  aaJ  Wolfe,  1, 181. 


liif 


THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC  113 

Avliich  resulted  in  his  resignation  and  a  gen- 
eral impression  that  "  his  life  was  hopelessly 
wrecked."  ^  Now  it  was  feared  that  he  had 
had  a  relapse  and  the  pressure  on  the  Presi- 
dent for  his  removal  was  great.  But  Lin- 
coln stood  by  Grant  saying  with  great 
earnestness  to  one  who  had  stated  the  gen- 
eral  protest,   "  /  can't  spare  this  man  ;  he 

Jightsr^ 

Of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  the 
command  of  McClellan,  Edward  Dicey  wrote, 
"  I  have  seen  the  armies  of  most  European 
countries  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that,  as  far  as  the  average  raw  material  of 
the  rank  and  file  is  concerned,  the  American 
a  my  is  the  finest."  ^      These  men   full  of 
courage  and  eager  for  a  speedy  end  to  the 
war  were  longing  to  be  led  against  the  enemy 
but  their  general  would  not  give  the  word. 
Had  he  seized  the  moment  of  discouragement 
of  the  Confederates  over  their  reverses  in 
the  Southwest,  a  cheap  victory  awaited  him. 
Before  Donelson  Lincoln,  by  the  Constitu- 


^  III,  596. 


« III,  627  et  ante. 


•  in,  604. 


A 


1 

i 


■t 


« 


1^.    t 


114 


ADVANCE  ON  RICHMOND 


tion  the  Coininaiuk'r-iu-Chief,  in  great  dis- 
tress and  realizing  the  neeessity  of  action, 
said  in  his  wliinisieal  wav,  "  If  General  Mc- 
Clellan  does  not  want  to  use  the  army  I 
would  like  to  borrow  it."  ^  From  entreaty 
he  passed  to  connnand  and  then  the  General 
haggled  over  the  plan  of  campaign.  The 
President  desired  the  advance  to  be  made 
directly  on  Richmond  while  INIcClellan 
wished  to  transport  his  army  part  way  by 
water  and  make  the  movement  up  the  Pen- 
insula. At  that  time,  no  Northern  general 
had  developed  sufficiently  to  warrant  a 
change  in  commanders  so  Lincoln  yielded 
the  point  and  gave  consent  to  McClellan's 
plan.^  But  the  general's  procrastination 
had  allowed  the  Confederates  time  to  recover 
from  their  reverses  so  that,  when  he  came 
in  sight  of  the  spires  of  Richmond,  Joseph 
E.  Johnston,  the  successful  commander  at 
Bull  Run,  had  a  well-equipped  force  of  63,000 
to  meet  his  100,000.  Meanwhile  Stonewall 
Jackson  made  a   swift   march    northward. 


»m,580. 


«  m,  614  ;  IV,  2  et  seq. 


^ 


SEVEN   DAYS'  BATTLES 


115 


won  a  series  of  brilliant  battles,  alarmed  the 
President  and  Secretary  of  War  for  the  safety 
of  Washington  and  thus  prevented  a  con- 
templated reenforcenient  of  40,000  troops  to 
the  Union  anny  before  Richmond. 

Although   McClellan  had  started  on  an 
offensive  campaign,  it  was  not  he  but  his 
adversary  who  took  the  initiative.     Johnston 
made  the  attack,  brought  on  a  battle  of  two 
days'  duration  and  acliicved  a  partial  success 
although  meeting  in  the  end  with  a  repulse. 
Tl»e  Union   troops  pushed   forward   within 
four  miles  of  Richmond  but  receiving  no  or- 
der from  their  commander  to  hold  the  ground, 
fell  back  to   the  lines  occupied  before  the 
battle.     Johnston  was  wounded  and  Robert 
E.  Lee  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the 
Army   of  Northern   Virginia.      Reenforced 
by  Stonewall  Jackson,  he  brought  on  the 
"  Seven  Da;  s'  Battles"  in  the  course  of  which 
his  success  was  not  continuous,  for  the  Union 
army  was  a  formidable  fighting  machine  even 
though  its  Commander  did  not  know  how 
to  use  it.     IMcClellan  was  forced  to  abandon 


>, 


116 


GLOOM  OF  THE  NORTH 


ii 


*  i 
,■  f 

i 


*  i 


.'I 


If 


i 


his  offensive  attitude  and  retreat  to  the 
James  River :  his  Peninsular  campaign  had 
been  an  utter  failure.  During  that  week  of 
hard  fighting,  Lee  gained  the  love  and  con- 
fidence of  his  soldiers,  which  were  never 
afterwards  lost  but  grew  larger  *..  the  war 
went  on. 

Once  again  was  it  the  turn  of  the  North 
to  be  plunged  in  gloom,  and  far  deeper  this 
time  than  after  Bull  Run.  Lowell  wrote  in 
a  private  letter,  "  I  don't  see  how  we  are  to 
be  saved  but  by  a  miracle."  ^  "  I  have  man- 
aged to  skim  the  newspaper  "  wrote  Charles 
Darwin  to  Asa  Gray,  "  but  had  not  heart 
to  read  all  the  bloody  details.  O  jod  God ! 
What  will  the  end  bel"^  Lincoln  grew 
pale  and  haggard  with  anxiety  and  dejection. 
But  he  said,  "  I  expect  to  maintain  this  con- 
test until  successful,  or  till  I  die  or  am  con- 
quered, or  my  term  expires,  or  Congress  or 
the  country  forsakes  me."^  He  called  for 
300,000  more  three  years'  men.     He  made 


» Letters,  I,  322. 


»  More  letters  of  C.  Darwin,  I,  203. 
» IV,  55. 


5 

•i 


NEW  GENERALS 


117 


up  a  new  army  and  summoned  a  man  from 
the  West  *  to  command  it ;  he  ordered  an- 
other generaP  to  Washiuj^ton  as  (Jeneral- 
in-Chief  who  proved  too  timid  to  exercise 
his  authority  but  became  useful  as  tiie  Presi- 
dent's chicf-of-stafF.  Throughout  this  in- 
terval of  gloom  and  demand  f«jr  further 
self-sacrifice,  Lincoln  retained  the  confi- 
dence and  support  of  the  peo[)le.  A  favorite 
song  during  this  dreary  summer  was,  "  We 
are  coming.  Father  Abraham,  three  hundred 
thousand  more." ' 

McClellan  and  his  army  were  withdrawn 
from  the  Peninsula.  The  military  records 
show  confusion  and  hopeless  mismanage- 
ment m  the  eflfbrts  of  the  three  generals,  the 
President  and  his  Secretary  of  War  to  work 
together  in  harmony.  On  the  other  side 
Lee  was  supreme;  he  consulted  no  one; 
now  he  took  to  studying  the  new  general 
from  the  West.  "Frederick  the  Great," 
wrote  Carlyle,  "always  got  to   know   his 

» John  Pope,  IV,  97.  «  Iloiiry  W.  Ilalleck,  IV,  97. 

.•IV,  55,  78,  97. 


i' 


I  r 


I-  ''4  i 


fill 

i 


118 


LEE  AND  JACKSON 


man  after  fighting  him  a  month  or  two ;  and 
took  liberties  with  him  or  did  not  take  ac- 
cordingly."^ This  task  of  learning  to  com- 
prehend one's  adversary  was  made  compar- 
atively easy  in  our  Civil  War,  for  the  reason 
that  most  of  the  opposing  commanders  had 
become  personally  acquainted  at  West  Point 
or  during  their  service  in  Mexico.  The 
Western  general  issued  a  tactless  and  boast- 
ful address  to  his  new  army.  In  military 
attainments,  he  was  inferior  to  McClellan 
and  in  temper  his  opposite,  being  an  im- 
petuous and  incautious  fighter.  Lee  and 
Jackson  played  with  him,  crushing  and  de- 
moralizing his  army  and  again  causing  con- 
siderable alarm  lest  Washington  be  taken.^ 
In  the   shifting  of  troops,  McCloUau  had 


1 

> 


» rv,  116. 

«  IV,  97  et  seq.  Under  date  of  Sept.  7,  1862,  Charles  Eliot 
Norton  wrote  to  George  W.  Curtis :  "  Tliese  days  .  .  .  have  been 
in  some  important  respects  the  most  disheartening  that  we  have 
yet  been  through.  They  have  been  worse  than  days  of  more  seri- 
ous disaster,  for  they  have  betrayed  alike  the  incompetence  of  our 
generals  and  the  vacillations  of  our  administration  at  a  time  when 
there  was  special  need  of  good  generalship  and  of  vigorous  pur- 
pose."   Atlantic  Monthly,  November  1912,  607. 


McCLELLAN 


119 


s 


m 


3 


been  deprived  of  all  actual  command.     But 
now  he  was  the  only  resource.     The  Presi- 
dent war  conipclU'd  to  put  him  at  the  head 
of  the  fn  billed   jrmies.^     Rank   and   file 
were  oveijoyed.     They  loved  McClellan  and 
greeted  him  now  with  rousing  cheers  which 
showed  their  eagerness  to  fight  if  he  would 
lead.=     Lee  had  crossed  the  Potomac  river 
into  Maryland  and  was  for  the  first  time  en- 
camped in  full  force  on  Northern  soil.     A 
lucky  revelation  of  his  immediate  projects 
now  supplied  McClellan  with  a  brilliant  op- 
portunity to  crush  the  invading  forces.^     To 
maintain  his  line  of  communication,  Lee  was 
forced  to  divide  his  army.     His  written  order 

»  Under  date  of  Sept.  7, 1862,  Welles,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
made  this  note  in  his  Diary :  * 

"The  President  said  with  much  emphasis:  'I  must  have 
McClellan  to  reorganize  the  army  and  bring  it  out  of  chaos 
there  is  no  remedy  at  present,  McClellan  has  the  army  with  him  ' 
My  convictions  are  with  the  President  that  McCleUan  and  his  gen- 
erals  are  this  day  stronger  than  the  Administration  with  a  consid- 
erable  portion  of  this  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It  is  not  so  elsewhere 
with  the  soldiers,  or  in  the  country,  where  McClellan  has  lost  favor. 
The  people  are  disappointed  in  him,  but  his  leading  generals  have 
contrived  to  strengthen  him  in  the  hearts  of  the  soldiers  in  front  of 
VVashington."    1,113,114. 

« IV,  136.  »jv,lW  ft  seq. 


\ 


>s4 


•i 


I'      -^  i 

1  :^ 

•t 


}• 


\  i 


*,  ! 


'  it 


120    McCLELLAN'S  MISSED  OPPORTUNITY 

for  this  movement  was  sent  to  three  generals, 
one  of  whom  "  pinned  it  securely  in  an  inside 
pocket,"  another  memorized  it  "and  then 
chewed  it  up,"  while  the  third  lost  it.     The 
lost  order  was  found  and  taken  to  McClellan, 
wlio  after  the  signature  of  Lee's  adjutant  was 
verified,  wrote  to  the  President,  "  I  have  all 
the  plans  of  the  rebels  and  will  catch  them 
in  their  own  trap  if  my  men  are  equal  to 
the   emergency."^     His    men    and    officers 
were  equal  to  the  emergency  but  McClellan 
was  not.     Tlie  occasion  demanded  a  celerity 
of  movement  of  which  he  was  incapable. 
He  gained  a  partial  victory  in  the  Battle  of 
Antietam  but,  at  the  time,  it  was  sickening 
to  think  how  much  more  might  have  been 
accomplished.     The  same  reflection  was  in- 
evitable in  connexion  with  the  battle  itself. 
In  the  words  of  miUtary  critics  it  was,  on 
the  Union  side,  "  a  day  of  isolated  attacks 
and  wasted  efforts ";    the   conduct  of  the 
battle  "  by  Lee  and  his  subordinates  seems 


>  IV,  145  ;  Ilosmer,  Appeal  to  Arms  (Hart's  American  Nation), 


169. 


TRUE  REASON  OF  THE  CONFLICT       121 


absolutely  above  criticism."  ^  Nevertheless 
they  retreated  into  Virginia.  The  two 
armies  then  had  an  interval  of  rest  before 
renewing  the  active  conflict  which  was  des- 
tined to  be  waged  for  another  two  and  a 
half-years. 

In  my  account  of  the  military  movements 
I  have  purposely  fallen  into  the  method  of 
the  two  combatants  in  obscurinir  the  true 
reason  of  the  conflict.  But  this  method 
could  not  then  nor  can  it  now,  be  long  per- 
sisted in,  for  both  actor  and  historian  find 
themselves  constantly  running  against  t^^-^ 
reality  behind  the  pretext.  No  one  knew  ^i, 
better  than  Lincoln  but  he  gauged  public 
sentiment  too  well  to  be  willino;  to  chi  iffe 
the  ostensible  to  the  real  purpose  by  public 
avowal  until  the  people  were  ready  to  foUoAV 
him.  He  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  over-zealous 
counsellors;  he  rescinded  orders  for  the 
emancipation  of  slaves  issued  by  ofiicious 
generals ;  and  all  the  while  he  was  reflect- 
ing how  slavery  might  best  be   attacked. 


'  II 


» IV,  154. 


n 


1' 


ill 

ft  t 

:  I 


122         COMPENSATED   EMANCIPATION' 

Congress  had  proliibited  sLavery  iu  all  the 
existing'  territories  and  in  any  that  should 
hereafter  l)e  accjuired,  thus  enacting  the 
principle  which  had  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  Republican  party ;  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  the  seat  of  the  national  govern- 
ment, it  had  abolished  slavery,  with  com- 
pensation for  the  owners  of  the  slaves,* 
thereby  taking  a  further  step  forward, 
which,  on  prudential  grounds,  had  not  been 
declared  for  in  the  two  Republican  national 
platforms.  In  March  18G2,  while  fortune 
was  prospering  the  Northern  arms,  the  Presi- 
dent suggested  to  Congress  that  they  offer, 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  pecuniary 
aid  to  any  State  that  should  adopt  the  grad- 
ual abolishment  of  slavery.  Though  it  was 
hardly  supposed  that  the  Confederate  States 
would  heed  the  offer,  it  was  nevertheless 
open  to  them  all,  and  if  anyone  of  them  or 
all  had,  in  this  hour  of  Northern  success, 
agreed  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  respect 
the  authority  of  the  national   government, 

'■  III,  G31. 


COMPENSATED  EMANCIPATION         123 

no  reasonable  doubt  can  exist  that  they 
would  have  received,  in  a  plan  of  gradual 
emancipation,^  about  four  hundred  dollars 
for  each  slave  set  free.  The  record  of  Lin- 
coln and  the  Republican  party  on  slavery  is 
clear ;  their  course  was  conservative  and  in 
line  with  the  best  traditions  of  England  and 
America.  Before  Sumter  was  fired  upon, 
they  had  practically  agreed  to  guarantee  in 
perpetuity  the  possession  of  slaves  to  their 
owners  in  all  the  slave  States;  now,  after 
nearly  a  year  of  war  and  in  the  hour  of 
victory,  when  the  logic  of  events  showed 
that  slavery  must  go,  they  were  willing  to 
reimburse  the  slave  owners,  in  spite  of  the 
detriment,  both  moral  and  material,  which 
they  had  caused  the  common  country.^ 

Mainly  theoretical  and  entirely  irrealiz- 
able  as  was  this  scheme,  so  far  as  it  con- 
cerned the  seceded  States,  it  sliould  have 
appealed  to  the  border  slave  States  that  had 


'  "  Gradual  and   not  sudden  emancipation  is  better   for  all." 
Lincoln's  Message  Mar.  6,  1662. 
*  III,  <m,  et  icy. 


Mi"  . 


f 


!     I 


j* 


Ii 


i 


124 


COMPENSATED  EMANCIPATION 


remained  in  the  Union  as  possessing  a  very 
substantial  practical  value.  Lincoln  ad- 
dressed them  again  and  again  urging  them 
with  irrefutable  argument  and  fervent  appeal 
to  accej)t  compensation  for  their  slaves 
while  it  was  in  his  power  to  give  it,  but  he 
was  unable  to  secure  their  assent  to  the 
phm.^  Bound  up  as  was  slavery  with  their 
social  and  political  life,  they  could  not 
understand  that  its  doom  was  certain. 
Then  came  the  change  in  the  military  situ- 
ation furtlier  stiffening  their  resistance. 
Ponding  the  discussion,  the  Northern  suc- 
cesses of  the  spring  were  followed  by  Mc- 
ClcUan's  disastrous  fiiilure  in  the  Peninsula 
and,  during  the  ensuing  interval  of  appre- 
hension lest  the  cause  of  the  North  should 
fail,  the  question  arose  of  how  much  value 
were  the  promises  to  pay  of  the  United 
States.  The  proposition  was  that  the  pay- 
ment for  the  slaves  should  be  made  in  six 
per  cent  bonds,  and,  though  Lincoln,  it  is 
said,  suggested  that  bonds  were  better  prop- 


>  III,  C;J1,  6;J3    IV,  G5,  67,  215. 


MILITARY  EMANCIPATION 


125 


erty  than  bondsmen,^  many  of  the  border 
State  men  thought  otlierwise.  But  it  is 
certain  that,  if  the  border  sLive  States  had 
acted  promptly,  they  would  have  received 
for  their  slaves  a  foir  compensation  in  United 
States  bonds  instead  of  having  subsequently 
to  sustain  a  flat  monetary  loss  tlirouph  the 
gift  of  freedom  to  the  negroes. 

Lincoln  now  began  preparing  for  the  ur- 
gent and  inevitable  move  whose  "  gravity, 
importance  and  delicacy  "  demanded  of  him 
the  most  earnest  and  careful  stud  v.  Durino- 
the  summer,  a  period  of  deep  gloom  at  the 
North,  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
since  the  slaves  were  growing  the  food  for 
the  Confederate  soldiers  and  servino-  as 
teamsters  and  laborers  on  intrenchments  in 
the  army  service,  "  it  was  a  military  neces- 
sity, absolutely  essential  for  the  salvation 
of  the  Union,  that  we  must  free  the  slaves 
or  be  ourselves  subdued."  ^  On  July  22, 
1862  he  submitted  to  his  Cabinet  a  procla- 
mation embodying  this  idea  but  postponed 


» IV,  218. 


IV,  69 ;  Welles's  Diary,  I,  70. 


126 


EMANCIPATION  POSTPONED 


1  = 
iii 


i 
11    ' 


11 
(  i 


•1 


its  issue,  because  of  an  objection  of  Sew- 
ard's, that,  if  it  were  now  given  to  the 
country  in  the  midst  of  our  military  disas- 
ters, it  might  be  looked  upon  as  "  a  cry  for 
help,  the  government  stretching  forth  its 
hands  to  Ethiopia  "  and  as  "  our  last  shriek 
on  the  retreat."^  Better  wait,  he  argued, 
till  it  be  supported  by  mihtary  success. 
Seeing  the  wisdom  of  Seward's  objection, 
the  President  laid  the  draft  of  the  procla- 
mation aside. 

The  secret  of  this  Cabinet  meeting  was 
strictly  kept.  The  facts  as  known  to-day 
furnish  a  curious  conmientary  on  Greeley's 
public  complaint  of  twenty-nine  days  later 
which  with  characteristic  egoism  he  entitled 
"  The  Prayer  of  Twenty  Millions  " ;  it  was 
addressed  to  the  President,  and  was  based 
upon  the  assertion  "  that  the  Union  cause 
is  now  suffering  immensely  from  your  mis- 
taken deference  to  rebel  slavery."  This 
open  letter  gave  Lincoln  a  chance  through 
the   press   to   iterate   his   policy  which   he 

» IV,  72,  et  ante. 


,5 


EMANCIPATION  DECIDED  127 

continued  publicly  to  adhere  to  with  con- 
sistency.     "My  paramount  object  in  this 
strugcrle,"  he  wrote,  « is  to  save  the  Union 
and  is  not  either  to  save  or  to  destroy  slav- 
ery."     On  the  other  hand  he  wrote  to  a 
Conservative,  "I   shall   not  surrender  this 
game  leaving  any  available  card  unplayed." 
From  these  and  other  utterances,  during  the 
two  months  preceding  a  certain  day  sacred 
in  our  annals,  the  working  of  Lincoln's  mind 
is  open  to  us.     At  the  Cabinet  meeting  of 
September  22,  1862,  after  some  general  talk, 
the  President  claimed  the  attention  of  his 
ministers,  reading  from  Artemus  Ward's  book 
a  chapter  entitled  "  High-handed  outrage  at 
Utica."     He  thought  it  very  funny  and  en- 
joyed reading  it,  while  the  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  except  the  grave  Secretary  of  War, 
laughed  with  him.      Lincoln  then  became 
very  serious  and  told  of  his  reflections  on 
the  slavery  question  since  the  July  meeting. 
Lee  has  been  driven  out  of  Maryland,  he 
said,  and  I  am  going  to  fulfil  the  promise 
I  made  to  myself  and  to  my  Maker.     "  I 


\u^ 


I 

1 

II    !  > 


;• 


li 


I 


I*.  I 

f 


128     PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION 

have  got  you  together  to  liear  what  I  have 
written  down.  I  do  not  wish  your  advice 
about  the  main  matter ;  for  that  I  have  de- 
termined for  myself"  lie  read  then  his 
proehunation  of  freedom  :  "  On  the  first  day 
of  January  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand,  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all 
persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  State  or 
designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof 
shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States  shall  be  then,  henceforward,  and  for- 
ever free."  * 

>IV,  72,  157  et  ante.  Hay  made  this  entry  in  his  Diary  on 
Sept.  2;5, 180'2  :  "  The  Tiesident  wrote  the  Proclamation  on  Sunday 
morning  carefully.  He  called  the  Cabinet  together  on  Mondry, 
Sept.  22,  made  a  little  talk  to  them  and  read  the  momentous  docu- 
ment." Later.  "Chase  [Secretary  of  the  Treasury]  sjwke  ear- 
nestly of  the  Proclamation.  He  said,  'This  wa.s  a  most  wonder- 
ful history  of  an  insanity  of  a  class  that  the  world  had  ever  seen, 
H  the  slavcholih'rs  had  .staid  in  the  Union,  they  might  have  kept 
the  life  in  their  institution  for  many  years  to  come.  That  what 
no  party  and  no  puhlic  feeling  in  the  North  could  ever  have  hoped 
to  touch,  they  had  iiuidly  I'laced  in  the  very  path  of  destruction.'" 
Letters  and  Diary  of  .John  Hay,  I,  60,  07. 

Welles  under  date  of  Sept.  22  wrote  in  his  Diary  concerning 
the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation:  "  A  favorable  termination  of 
this  terrible  conflift  seems  more  remote  with  every  movement,  and 
unle.ss  the  Rebels  [as  the  Confederates  were  generally  called  at  the 
North]  hasten  to  avail  themselves  of  the  alternative  presented,  of 
which  I  see  little  probability,  the  war  can  scarcely  be  other  than 


PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION     129 

one  of  emancipation  to  the  slave,  or  subjugation,  or  submission  to 
their  Rel)el  owners.  Tliere  is  in  the  Free  Stiites  a  very  geueral 
impression  that  this  measure  will  insure  a  speed;  peace,  i  cannot 
Bay  that  I  so  view  it.  No  one  in  those  States  dare  advocate  peace 
as  a  means  of  prolongiiij,'  shivery,  even  if  it  is  his  honest  opinion, 
and  the  pecuniary,  industrial,  and  social  sacrifice  impending  will 
intensify  the  struggle  before  us.  While,  however,  these  dark 
clouds  are  above  and  around  us,  I  cannot  see  how  the  subject  can 
be  avoided.  Perhaps  it  is  not  de»iral)li!  it  should  be.  It  is,  how- 
ever, an  arbitrary  and  despotic  measure  in  the  cause  of  freedom  " 
I,  145. 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  remarkable  circumstance  that 
Lincoln  should  have  opened  this  Cabinet  meeting  by  reading  a 
chapter  from  Artemus  Ward's  book.  There  can  be  no  question 
that  he  was  very  much  impressed  with  the  seriousness  of  the  act 
he  was  about  to  perform.  His  summer  had  been  full  of  jHTplexity 
and  disappointment.  Until  Antietani  he  had  had  nothing  but 
military  failure.  McClellan's  Peninsular  Campaign  had  come 
to  naught.  Lee's  army  had  defeated  the  new  general  from  the 
West,  and,  flushed  with  victory,  had  threatened  Washington, 
Baltimore  and  Ilarrisburg.  From  a  Confederate  army  in  Ken- 
tucky, Cincinnati  had  In-en  in  imminent  danger  of  capture  and,  at 
the  time  of  this  Cabinet  meeting,  Louisville  stood  in  jeopardy. 
The  President  had  hoped  that  McClellan  would  destroy  Lee's 
army.  The  victory  at  Antietam  simply  turned  back  the  Confed- 
erate invasion.  That  a  man  of  deep  feeling,  who  had  had  so  nmch 
distress,  who  knew  that  the  actors  in  great  scenes  of  history 
ushered  them  in  with  gravity,  generally  with  pomp  and  prayer, 
should  have  begun  this  solemn  Cabinet  meeting  in  a  manner  so 
grotesque,  Ls  extraordinary. 

W.  D.  Ilowells  writes  in  an  Introduction  to  Artemus  Ward's 
Best  Stories  (1012)  :  '•  It  must  h.ave  b-en  something  more  than  the 
bad  spelling  which  gave  Artemus  Ward's  humor  a  currency  beyond 
that  of  all  other  humorists  before  his  time.  .  .  ..  Men  of  my  age 
will  remember  the  universal  joy  in  his  fable  of  his  interview  with 
the  Prince  of  Wales  then  visitinij  our  States.  ...  It  must  be 
owned  that  Artemus  Ward  hail  not  Mark  Twain's  greatness  of  na- 

K 


\H" 


•^. 


130 


ARTEMUS  WARD 


tui»,  his  generouB  icope,  hin  actual  humanity.  ...  He  felt  bound 
to  make  you  laugh  fir^t  of  all ;  Mark  Twain  felt  bound  to  make 
you  laugh,  too,  but  not  always  first  of  all ;  ho  might  first  witth  to 
make  you  feel.  ...  In  some  of  his  beginnings  Mark  Twain 
formed  himself  from,  if  not  on,  Artemus  Ward.  The  imitation 
could  not  last  long;  the  great  master  was  so  immensely  the 
master.  .  .  .  We  must  remember  how  Lincoln  love<l  Artemus 
Ward  and  sought  him  in  times  of  trouble  when  wiser  and  better 
authorities  could  not  have  consoled  him  nearly  so  much.  .  .  . 
Artemus  Ward's  fame  took  him  to  England  where  probably  the 
happiest  years  of  his  short  life  were  spent.  Charles  lleade  called 
him  '  Artemus  the  delicious.'  The  English  liked  him  with  that 
self  abandon  which  wins  the  American  heart,  and  made  him  so 
wholly  at  home  among  them  that,  after  some  brief  interval'  in 
America,  he  returned  to  die  in  England."    Pp.  viii,  ix,  xi,  xiv,  xv. 


,1. 
1 


LECTURE  III 

FROM  THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION,  1882, 
TO   THE  SURRENDER  AT  APTOMATTOX,   1865 

The    first    response   of  the   country   to 
Lincoln's  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  is- 
sued on  September  22,  18G2  was  unfavor- 
able.    In  the  autumn  elections,  many   of 
the    important    Northern    States    declared 
against  the  party  in  power,  whose  majority 
in    the    House    of  Representatives    newly 
chosen  was  materially  reduced.*     The  elec- 
tions were  characterized  as  a  "vote  of  want 
of  confidence  "  in  the  President,  and  to  this 
result  the  Proclamation  was  undoubtedly  a 
contributing  force.     But  the  dominant  fac- 
tor was  the  failure  of  our  armies  to  accom- 
plish   decisive   results   in   the   field.      Had 
^IcClellan    captured    or    destroyed     Lee's 
army    at    Antietam   the    President    would 
have  received  at  the  ballot-box  a  triumphant 

» IV,  163 ;  Life  of  Morton,  Foulke,  I,  207. 
131 


i 


f 

til; 


I 


,1 


II  , 


132 


LINCOLN'S  DELIBERATION 


approval  of  his  wliole  policy.  The  defeat 
of  the  adininistration  party  in  important 
States  wliich  was  brought  about  by  its 
former  friends  staying  away  from  the  polls, 
was  a  symptom  of  weariness  of  the  war,  a 
protest  against  the  waste  of  so  much  life 
and  money  with  an  almost  entire  absence 
of  results. 

Lincoln  made  up  liis  mind  slowly. 
Nearly  all  liis  decisions  were  the  outcome 
of  careful  deliberation,  but,  the  decision 
once  arrived  at,  he  was  thenceforth  immov- 
able. By  gradual  steps,  he  had  come  to 
the  policy  of  emancipation  and  to  it  he  was 
determined  to  stick  in  spite  of  the  defeat 
of  his  party  at  the  ballot-box  and  other 
discouraging  events  during  the  hundred 
days  that  intervened  between  the  prelimi- 
nary proclamation  of  September  22  and  its 
necessary  complement  of  January  1,  1863. 
Although  the  form  of  the  preliminary 
proclamation  implied  that  some  of  the  Con- 
federates or  all  might  lay  down  their  anns 
to  avoid  the  loss  of  their  slaves,  no  such 


,  4 ;  .■ 


PROCLAMATION  OF  JANUARY  1,   1863    133 

outcome  was  seriously  regarded  as  possible. 
Doubt  no  longer  existed  that  a  united  people 
in  the  South  were  earnest  in  their  desire  to 
secure  their  independence  and  that,  if  the 
proclamation  had  affected  them  at  all,  it 
was  to  make  them  more  determined  than 
ever  in  their  resistance  by  giving  force  to 
the  argument  that  the  war  of  the   North 
was  a  crusade  against  their  social  institu- 
tions.    Regarding  the  proclamation  "as  a 
fit  and  necessary  war  measure,"  the  Presi- 
dent wrote  on  January  1,  1863,  "  I  do  order 
and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  " 
in  the  States  or  parts  of  States  resisting  the 
United  States  government  "  are,  and  hence- 
forward shall  be,  free.  .  .  .     Upon  this  act, 
sincerely  beUeved  to  be  an  act  of  justice, 
warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon  mili- 
tary necessity  I  invoke  the  considerate  judg- 
ment of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of 
Almighty  God."  ^ 


•  IV,  213  e(  nnte.  « I  am  naturally  anti-slavery,"  Lincoln  wrote 
in  a  letter  of  Apr.  4,  1864.  "  If  slavery  is  not  wrong  nothing  is 
wrong.    I  cannot  remember  when  I  did  not  so  think  and  feel,  and 


134 


LINCOLN'S  ARGUMENT 


fit 


ll' 


.:! 


•.:N 


If 


In  spite  of  the  expressed  fears  of  un- 
friendly critics  in  England  and  in  our  own 
country,  the   Proclamation  did   not  excite 

yet  I  have  never  understood  that  the  presidency  conferred  upon 
me  an  unrestricted  right  to  act  officially  upon  this  judgment  and 
feeling.  It  was  in  the  oath  I  took  that  I  would,  to  the  best  of 
my  ability,  preserve,  protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  I  could  not  take  the  office  without  taking  the  oath. 
Nor  was  it  my  view  that  I  might  take  an  oath  to  get  power  and 
break  the  oath  in  using  the  jiower.  I  understood,  too,  that  in 
ordinary  civil  administration  this  oath  even  forbade  me  to  prac- 
tically indulge  my  primary  abstract  judgmen*;  on  the  moral  ques- 
tion of  slavery.  I  had  publicly  declared  this  many  times  and  in 
many  ways.  And  I  aver,  that,  to  this  day,  I  have  done  no  official 
act  in  mere  deference  to  my  abstract  judgment  and  feeling  on  slavery. 
I  did  understand,  however,  that  my  oath  to  preserve  the  Constitu- 
tion to  the  best  of  my  ability  imposed  upon  me  the  duty  of  preserv- 
ing, by  every  indispensable  means,  that  government  —  that  nation, 
of  which  that  Constitution  was  the  organic  law.  ...  I  felt  that 
measures  otherwise  unconstitutional  might  become  lawful  by 
becoming  indispensable  to  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution 
through  the  preservation  of  the  nation.  Right  or  wrong,  I  assumed 
this  ground.  ...  I  could  not  feel  that  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
I  had  even  tried  to  preserve  tlie  Constitution,  if,  to  save  slavery  or 
any  minor  matter,  I  should  permit  the  wreck  of  government, 
country  and  Constitution  ull  together.  .  .  .  When  in  March  and 
May  and  July,  1862,  I  made  earnest  and  succes.sive  appeals  to  the 
Border  States  to  favor  compensated  emancipation,  I  believed  the 
indispensable  necessity  for  military  emancipation  and  arming 
the  blacks  would  come  unless  avi-rted  by  that  measure.  They 
declined  the  proposition  and  I  was,  in  my  best  judgment,  driven  to 
the  alternative  of  either  surrendering  the  Union,  and  with  it  the 
Constitution,  or  of  laying  strong  hand  upon  the  colored  element. 
I  chose  the  latter."  Lincoln  wrote  in  a  letter  of  Aug.  26,  1863  :  "  I 
think  the  Constitution  invests  it^  Commander-in-chief  with  the 


NO  SERVILE  INSURRECTION 


135 


servile  insurrection/  although  it  completed 
the  process,  which  the  war  had  begun,  of 
making  every  slave  in  the  South  a  friend 
of  the  North.  Every  negro  knew  that  if  he 
got  within  the  lines  of  the  Federal  armies, 

law  of  war  in  time  of  war.  The  most  that  can  be  said  —  if  so  much 
—  is  that  slaves  are  property.  Is  there  —  has  there  ever  been—  any 
question  that  by  the  law  of  war,  property,  both  of  enemies  and 
friends,  may  be  taken  when  needed  ?  And  is  it  not  needed  when- 
ever taking  it  helps  us,  or  hurts  the  enemy?  Armies,  the  world 
over  destroy  enemies'  property  when  they  cannot  use  it ;  and  even 
destroy  their  own  to  keep  it  from  the  enemy.  Civilized  belliger- 
ents do  all  in  their  power  to  help  themselves  r  hurt  the  enemy, 
except  a  few  things  regarded  as  barbarous  or  cruel."  IV,  213, 214. 
>  The  evidence  warrants  the  oft-repeated  statement  that  the 
blacks  made  no  move  to  rise.  "A  thousand  torches,"  Henry 
Grady  declared,  "would  have  disbanded  the  Southern  Army,  but 
there  was  not  one."  Instead  of  rising  they  showed  patient  sub- 
mission and  fidelity  to  their  owners.  It  was  their  labor  that  pro- 
duced food  for  the  soldiers  fighting  to  keep  them  in  slavery  and 
without  them  the  cotton  could  not  have  been  raised  which  brought 
supplies  from  Eurojie  and  the  North.  Our  great  strength,  declared 
a  Confederate  official,  consists  in  our  system  of  slave  labor  be- 
cause it  "  makes  our  8,000,000  productive  of  fighting  material  equal 
to  the  20,000,000  of  the  North."  One  owner  or  overseer  to  twenty 
slaves  was  exempted  from  military  service  "  to  secure  the  proper 
police  of  the  country,"  but  a  study  of  the  life  indicates  that  he  was 
needed  not  for  their  restraint  but  for  their  intelligent  direction. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  able-bodied  negroes  were  at  home  on  the 
plantation  in  the  sparsely  settled  country  of  the  Confederacy  while 
with  few  exceptions  the  white  people  in  the  neighborhood  were  old 
or  diseased  men,  women  and  children.  It  is  a  wonderful  picture, 
one  that  discovers  virtues  in  the  Southern  negroes  and  merit  in  the 
civilization  under  which  they  Lad  Lccu  trained.    V,  460,  461. 


,l) 


1 


w- 


^,  ■ 


136 


LINCOLN'S  WISDOM 


the  aspiration  of  his  life  would  be  realized ; 
he  would  become  a  free  man.  Before  the 
close  of  the  year  1863,  there  were  in  the 
United  States  military  service  100,000 
former  slaves,  about  one-half  of  which  num- 
ber actually  bore  arms  in  the  ranks.  But 
for  the  policy  of  emancipation  these  negroes 
would  probably  have  remained  at  the  South, 
growing  food  for  the  able-bodied  white  men, 
all  of  whom  were  forced  into  the  Confeder- 
ate army  by  the  rigorous  conscription.^ 

In  addition  to  military  emancipation,  the 
President  proposed  to  give  the  slaves  their 
freedom  in  a  strictly  legal  manner  and  to 
insure  the  compensation  of  their  owners  by 
the  Federal  government.  In  his  annual 
message  to  Congress  of  December  1,  1862, 
he  took  as  his  text  the  sound  and  now 
familiar  proposition  that  "Without  slavery 
the  rebellion  [as  he  and  the  North  called  the 
Civil  War]  could  never  have  existed  ;  with- 
out  slavery   it    could    not  continue,"   and 


>  IV,  215.    From  1863  to  1865,  180,000  negroes  enlisted  under 
the  Union  flag.     IV,  334. 


LINCOLN'S  WISDOM  137 

showed  in  his  argument  a  grasp  of  the  sub- 
ject which,  in  the  light  of  our  subsequent 
experience,  has  proved  him  a  consummate 
statesman.  He  pleaded  for  gradual  emanci- 
pation, appointing  January  1,  1900,  as  the 
time  when  it  should  be  completed  to  spare 
"both  races  from  the  evils  of  sudden  de- 
rangement." ^  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this 
prophetic  appeal  was  not  reenforced  by 
victories  in  the  field  such  as  were  wont  to 
point  the  utterances  of  Caesar  and  Napoleon. 


» This  plan,  he  argued,  saves  the  slaves  "  from  the  vagrant  desti- 
tution which  must  largely  attend  immediate  emancipation  in 
localities  where  their  numbers  are  very  great;  and  it  gives  the 
inspiring  assurance  that  their  posterity  shall  be  free  forever.  It 
leaves  to  each  State  choosing  to  act  under  it  to  abolish  slavery  now, 
or  at  the  end  of  the  century,  or  at  any  intermediate  time,  or  by 
degrees  extending  over  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  period;  and 
it  obliges  no  two  States  to  proceed  alike.  also  provides  for 

compensation,  and  generally  the  mode  of  making  it.  .  .  .  It 
is  no  less  true  for  having  been  often  said,  that  the  people  of  the 
South  are  no  more  responsible  for  the  original  introduction  of  this 
property  [property  in  slaves]  than  are  the  people  of  the  North; 
and  when  it  is  remembered  how  unhesitatinglv  we  all  use  cotton 
and  sugar  and  share  the  profits  of  dealing  in  them,  it  may  not  be 
quite  safe  to  say  that  the  South  has  been  more  responsible  than 
the  North  for  it«  continuance.  If,  then,  for  a  common  object,  this 
property  is  to  be  sacrificed,  is  it  not  just  that  it  be  done  at  a 
common  charge? "    Lincoln,  Complete  Works,  II  :j72. 


I 


■fit 


II 


'I    1 


■■^M 


.1-  . 


138 


DISTRUST  OF  LINCOLN 


As  matters  stood,  distrust  of  Lincoln  per- 
vaded both  the  Senate  and  the  House  and 
for  the  moment  his  personal  prestige  amongst 
the  people  had  paled  because  his  annies  had 
made  no  headway ;  so  it  was  hardly  surpris- 
ing that  his  policy  of  gradual  and  compen- 
sated emancipation  failed  to  receive  the 
approval  of  either  Congress  or  the  country. 
Nevertheless  he  had  shown  insight  in  seiz- 
ing the  moment  of  triumph  to  issue  his 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  as  from  An- 
tietam  in  September  1862  to  Gettysburg 
in  July  1863  the  North  gained  no  real  vic- 
tory and  her  Army  of  the  Potomac  suffered 
two  crushing  defeats. 

After  Antietam  the  President  again  made 
strenuous  effort  to  bring  McClellan  to  the 
point  of  undertaking  the  vigorous  offensive 
operations  necessary  for  striking  a  decisive 
blow.^     At  length  his  patience  worn  out  by 


*'.  I 


'Welles  under  date  of  Oct.  18,  1862  wrote:  "It  is  just  five 
weeks  since  the  Battle  of  Antietam  and  the  army  is  quiet,  repos- 
ing in  camp.  .  .  .  The  country  groans.  .  .  .  McClellan  is  sadly 
afflicted  with  what  the  President  calls  the  'slows'."  Diary,  I, 
176. 


,A 


McCLELLAN  REMOVED 


139 


the  General's  temperamental  inability  to 
reach  an  "ideal  completeness  of  prepara- 
tion," he  removed  him  from  the  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.^  His  action 
would  have  been  justifiable,  had  he  known 
an  officer  equal  or  superior  in  military  ca- 
pacity to  McClellan  but  although  there  were 
such  men  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  he 
had  failed  to  discern  them.  He  sent  an 
order  giving  the  command  to  Bumside,  a 
man  of  winning  personal  qualities,  who  had 
twice  refused  it,  deeming  himself  incom- 
petent and  McClellan  the  best  fitted  of  all 
for  the  place.  With  deep  regret  Burnside 
obeyed  the  President's  order  and  thence- 
forth did  not  enjoy  a  happy  hour  during 
the  eighty  days  that  he  was  in  command. 
Promptly  taking  the  offensive,  he  advanced 
his  army  across  a  river  to  make  a  frontal 
attack  on  Lee's  soldiers,  strongly  intrenched 


*  rV,  188.  Lee  remarked  to  Longstreet  that  ho  regretted  to 
part  with  McClellan,  "for  we  always  understood  each  other  so 
well.  I  fear  they  may  continue  to  make  these  changes  until  they 
find  some  one  I  don't  understand."  Hosmer,  Appeal  to  Arms, 
237. 


i 


:ii 


Iv 


t 


h   >l 


:( 


It  • 

1 


■■■  i 


140  BATTLE  OF  FREDERICKSBURG 

and  under  his  immediate  direction.*  The 
Northern  troops  fought  heroically  and  did 
their  best  to  carry  out  the  foolhardy  orders 
but  the  only  result  was  a  terrible  and  use- 
less slaughter  of  the  flower  of  the  army,  the 
Northern  loss  exceeding  the  Southern  more 
tban  twofold. 

The  day  of  this  battle,  wrote  the  corre- 
spondent of  the  Times  from  Lee'^.  headquar- 
ters,   will   be    "a   memorable   day    to   the 
historian  of  the   Decline  and   Fall   of  the 
American    Republic.  "^     And    so    thought 
many  Northern  people  when  they  came  to 
know  of  the  useless  sacrifice  of  so  many  pre- 
cious lives.     During  this  period  of  gloom 
and  perU  the  writers  of  the  day  declared 
that,  an   elastic   and   stout-hearted  people 
had  been  brought  to  the  brink  of  despond- 
ency ;  the  North  had  lost  heart  and  hope. 
Greeley  in  the  New  York  Tribune  advocated 
the  mediation  of  a  European  power  and  the 


>  Battle  of  Fredericksburg,  IV,  197  et  ante. 
« Issue  of  Jan.  13,  1863.     The  day  of   the  battle  was  Dec. 
13,  1862.     IV,  200. 


GLOOM  IN  THE  NORTH 


141 


Emperor  of  the  Fiench  offered  his  friendly 
offices  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  an 
informal  conference  between  the  United 
and  the  Confederate  States.  The  offer  was 
at  once  declined  but  the  certainty  that 
Louis  Napoleon  was  eager  to  interfere  in  the 
struggle  deepened  the  gloom.  The  Dem- 
ocrats in  a  number  of  the  Western  States, 
weary  of  the  war,  threatened  to  inau- 
gurate a  movement  in  favor  of  an  armistice 
which  should  lead  to  eventual  peace.  A 
prominent  Western  journahst,  devoted  to 
the  Northern  cause,  feared  that  nothing 
was  left  but  "to  fight  for  a  boundary."^ 

Lincoln  was  profoundly  depressed.  It 
was  his  general  who  had  met  this  crushing 
defeat  and  he  was  responsible  for  it.  So 
declared  the  Democrats  without  reserve. 
The  Republicans,  too  in  private  conversation 
and  confidential  letters,  showed  that  they 
held  the  same  view,  although  in  public  they 
were  cautious  and  reticent.  Had  ours  been 
a  government   of  the  responsible-ministry 

»IV,  222,  223. 


1*1 

1 


"  t 


i 


.li 


142 


LINCOLN'S  POSITION 


type,  Congress,  which  was  then  in  session, 
would  have  voted  a  want  of  confidence  in 
Lincohi ;  and  this  was  the  one  period  dur- 
ing his  term  of  office,  when  it  was  just 
doubtful  if  the  country  would  have  sustained 
him.  But  our  President  is  elected  for  a 
fixed  period  of  four  years  and  Lincoln  had 
not  yet  served  half  his  term.  In  his  own 
words  uttered  in  an  earlier  and  less  grave 
crisis,  "  There  is  no  way  in  which  I  can  have 
any  other  man  put  where  I  am.  I  am  here. 
I  must  do  the  best  I  can  and  bear  the  re- 
sponsibility of  taking  the  course  which  I 
feel  I  ought  to  take."  ^  Congress  recognized 
its  limitations ;  it  could  not  remove  Lincoln 
from  office  and  it  agreed  with  him  that  the 
war  must  be  prosecuted  to  the  end.  It  gave 
him  therefore  the  sword  and  purse  of  the 
nation,  passing  a  rigorous  conscription  law 
and  a  drastic  financial  act,  astounding  in  its 
magnitude  of  provision  for  the  enormous 
expenses  of  the  war.^ 

Bumside,  full   of  human  sympathy,  was 


1 IV,  203. 


»IV,  236. 


iKfi 


HOOKER  IN  COMMAND 


143 


wild  with  grief  at  his  disaster.  "  Oh  those 
men !  Those  men  over  there ! "  he  said, 
pointing  across  the  river  where  lay  the  dead 
and  wounded,  "  I  am  thinking  of  them  all 
the  time."  In  a  turn  of  frenzied  energy,  he 
made  plans  for  an  advance  impossible  of 
execution.  A  new  general  was  imperatively 
needed.  The  President  relieved  Burnside 
and  placed  Hooker  in  command  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac. 

A  preeminent  leader  and  representative 
of  popular  sentiment,  sucli  as  Lincoln,  in- 
curs a  risk  in  handling  military  affairs  inas- 
much as  in  time  of  stress  he  may  set  too 
high  a  value  on  the  voice  of  the  people 
which  is  not  often  successful  in  designating 
a  commander  of  genius  and  skill.  In  the 
appointment  of  Hooker  he  put  in  force  the 
opinion  of  the  country  and  of  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  army,  which  had  been  formed  in 
accordance  with  the  general's  record  as  an 
excellent  and  dashing  corps  commander. 
"  Fighting  Joe  "  was  the  name  that  he  had 
won  and  in  the  anxious  search  for  a  leader, 


! 


144 


HOOKER 


■;»• 


*« 


1 


I 


it  was  not  unnatural  that  he  was  selected. 
Nevertheless,  though  Lincoln  was  a  better 
judge  of  military  affairs  than  any  of  his 
advisers  taken  from  civil  life  and  though  he 
is  entitled  in  this  painful  crisis  to  the  his- 
torian's most  charitable  treatment,  it  is  evi- 
dent, from  the  facts  known  at  the  time,  that 
the  choice  of  Hooker  was  unwarrantable. 
For  in  the  general  of  a  democratic  army 
nothing  but  transcendent  ability  can  make 
up  for  lack  of  personal  character;  and 
Hooker  was  deficient  in  both  respects. 

Nevertheless  he  was  a  good  organizer, 
put  heart  into  the  dispirited  army  and 
stopped  desortions  which  of  late  had  been 
alarmingly  frequent.  Towards  tlie  end  of 
April  1863,  satisfied  that  his  anny  was  fit 
for  action  he  set  forth  on  his  Chancellors- 
ville  campaign  with  130,000  men  to  Lee's 
60,000  and,  after  a  capital  beginning,  lost 
nerve  and  was  completely  outgeneralled  by 
Lee.  Lee  knew  Hooker  better  than  Lin- 
coln did  and  showed  his  contempt  of  the 
enemy  by  dividing  liis  army,  and  sending 


,4 


IP 


BATTLE  01    CHANCELLORSVILLE        145 

Jackson,  "  the  great  flanker,"  c  forced 
march  to  attack  Hooker's  right  which  was 
surprised  and  put  to  confuHion.  In  the  en- 
suing three  days'  battle,  Lee  utterly  de- 
feated Hooker*  but  sustained  an  irreparable 
loss  in  the  death  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  who, 
by  a  mischance  that  the  South  never  ceased 
to  lament,  was  shot  by  his  own  men. 

After  his  army  had  been  given  a  rest  of 
some  weeks  Lee,  believing  that  nothing  was 
to  be  gained  by  "  remaining  quietly  on  the 
defensive,"  ^  began  an  invasion  of  the  North, 
undoubtedly  hoping  to  defeat  the  Union 
army,  capture  Washington  and  dictate  a 
peace  or  secure  European  recognition  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  He  soon  had  an 
army  of  75,000  on  Pennsylvania  soil  causing 
intense  alarm  throughout  the  North.  Every 
Northern  man  took  up  his  morning  news- 

*  IV,  264  et  ante.  WeUes  made  this  entry  under  date  of  May 
6,  1863:  "Sumner  came  into  my  room,  and  raising  both  hands 
exclaimed,  'Lost,  lost,  all  is  lost  I'  I  asked  what  he  meant 
lie  said  Hooker  and  his  army  had  been  defeated  and  driven  back 
V.)  this  side  of  the  Rappahannock.  Sumner  caine  direct  from  the 
President,  who,  he  said,  was  extremely  dejected."    Diary,  I,  293. 

» IV,  268. 


146 


MEADE  IN  COMMAND 


1^ 
I 

1 


I 


-'    1. 


paper   with   misfriving,  and   watched    with 
growing  alarm  the  periodical  bulletins  that 
told  of  the  progress  northward  of  the  Con- 
federate army.^    At  this  juncture,  the  North- 
ern cause  received  a  blessing  in  the  disguise  of 
a  dispute  between  Hooker  and  the  Tresident's 
chief  of  staff.     Hooker  asked  to  be  reheved 
from  command  and  the  President,  taking  him 
at  his  word,  at  once  put  Meade,  a  true  soldier, 
in  his  place.     Lee  rated  Meade  higher  than 
Hooker,   but  thought  that   the   change   of 
commanders  at  this  critical  moment  over- 
balanced   the    advantage    in    generalship. 
He  had  undoubtedly  become  persuaded  that 
he  and  his  anny  were  invincible,  and  this 

'  Welles  under  date  of  June  15,  1863  wrote :  "Something  of  a 
panic  pervades  the  city  [Washington].    Singular  run.ors  reach  us 

of  Rebel  advances  into  Maryland There  is  trouble,  confusion, 

uncerui.ity,  where  there  should  be  calm  intelligence.  I  have  a 
panic  telegraph  from  Governor  Curtin,  [Pennsylvania],  who  is  ex- 
citable and  easily  alarmed,  entreating  that  guns  and  gunners  may 
be  sent  from  the  navy  yard  at  Philadelphia  to  Harrisburg  without 

delay Hooker  does  not  comprehend   I^'s   intentions  nor 

know  how  to  counteract  them It  looks  to  me  as  if  Lee  was 

puttmg  forth  his  whole  energy  and  force  in  one  great  and  desper- 
ate struggle  which  shall  be  decisive;  that  he  means  to  strike  a 
blow  that  will  be  severely  felt,  and  of  serious  consequences,  and 
thus  brmg  the  War  to  a  close."     Diary,  I.  329,  330. 


H^»i 


BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG 


147 


confidence  was  shared  by  nearly  all  of  his 
officers  and  men.  The  two  armies  met  at 
Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania,  and  fought  for 
three  days.  On  the  first  two  days,  the  ad- 
vantage was  with  Lee.  Meade  was  loyally 
supported  by  his  corps  commanders  and  in 
a  council  of  war  at  the  end  of  the  second 
day,  although  having  to  reckon  with  a  loss 
of  20,000  men,  or  more  than  one-fifth  of  his 
army,  all  voted  to  "  stay  and  fight  it  out."  ^ 
On  the  third  day,  after  a  terrific  and 
prolonged  cannonade,  Lee  ordered  the  fa- 
mous Pickett  iharge.  Under  the  hot  sun 
of  a  July  afternoon,  15,000  men  issued 
from  the  Confederate  position  to  cross  the 
open  valley,  nearly  a  mile  wide,  that  sepa- 
rated them  from  the  enemy.  They  received 
first  a  devastating  fire  from  Meade's  bat- 
teries, then  a  storm  of  canister  and,  as 
they  drew  nearer,  the  steady  fusillade  of  the 
infantry.     Tlie  slaughter  was  terrible,  only 


*  For  a  clear  statement  of  the  disadvantages  under  which 
Meade  laboretl,  seeC.  F.  Adams,  Studies  Military  and  Diplomatic, 
809.    For  an  account  of  tlie  Gettysburg  campaign,  IV,  268  et  *fq. 


i  { 

I 


I 


r 


I).  ! 


n 


148 


VICKSBURG   CAMPAIGN 


a  few  men  reached  the  Union  lines.  The 
Confederates  were  forced  to  retreat.  On 
account  of  the  failure  of  this  charge,  Lee's 
second  and  last  invasion  of  the  North  had 
come  to  naught.  His  loss  at  Gettysburg 
was  28,000  to  Meade's  23,000.* 

At  the  same  hour  on  July  4  (1863),  when 
the  President  announced  the  result  of  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg  to  the  country,  Vicks- 
burg,  a  strong  fortress  on  the  Mississippi 
river  and,  after  Richmond,  the  most  impor- 
tant one  in  the  Confederacy,  surrendered  to 
General  Grant.     This  event  was  the   cul- 
mination  of   the    most   brilliant    offensive 
campaign  of  the  war.     Many  and  various 
attempts  had  been   made   to   capture   this 
redoubtable  stronghold   and   finally   Grant 
conceived  a  plan  which  no  other  Northern 
general  would  have  had  the  hardihood  to 
execute.     "I    became    satisfied,"   he    said, 
"  that  Vicksburg  could  only  be  turned  from 
the  south  side."  ^    Crossing  the  Mississippi 

» Livermore,  Numbers  and  Losses,  102.     The  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg  took  place  July  1,  2,  3. 18«3.  »  Nicolay,  Hay,  VU,  146. 


/ 


GRANT'S  GENERALSHIP  149 

above  Vicksburg  which  is  on  the  east  bank, 
he  marched  to  a  point  south  of  it  on  the 
west  bank  where  he  was  dependent  on  the 
navy  for  indispensable   supplies.     He  had 
reckoned  on  efficient  support  on  the  river 
and  was  not  to  be  disappointed ;  gunboats 
with  transports  heavily  loaded  with  supphes 
succe  ded  in  running  past  the  Confederate 
batter  ^s  of  Vicksburg.     His  next  projected 
movement  must  be  conducted  for  the  most 
part,  in  a  swamp  formed  by  tlie  river  with 
its  many  bayous  and  now  become  unusually 
difficult  of  passage  because  of  heavy  spring 
rains    and   neglected    and    broken   levees. 
High  ground  on  the   east   bank  must  be 
reached  somehow;    and  when  Grant  with 
unflagging  energy  had  succeeded  in  putting 
this  formidable  problem  behind  him,  a  feel- 
ing   of   rehef    and    confident    expectancy 
possessed  him  such  as  he  rarely  experienced 
in  his   subsequent  miHtary   career.     "The 
battle  is  now  more  than  half  won,"  he  tele- 
graphed to  Washington.     Nevertheless  he 
had  still  to  advance  in  the  face  of  certain 


If 

i 


i: 


1 

1 


150 


GRANT'S  ENERGY 


opposition  through  a  country  where  swamps, 
cane-brakes  and  forests  choked  with  under- 
growth and  trailing   shrubs    followed   one 
upon  another  in   disheartening   continuity. 
Nothing  daunted  he  cut  loose  from  his  base 
and  set  out  to  meet  the  enemy  who,  in  the 
theatre    of   operations    outnumbered    him. 
Moving   with   extraordinary    rapidity    and 
throwing    upon   each    detachment    of   the 
Confederates  a  superior  force,   he  defeated 
them  in  detail  and  cleared  the  way  to  his 
final    objective    point.       Within    nineteen 
duys  *  from  his  recrossing  of  the  Mississippi 
to  the  east  bank  in  the  enemy's  territory 
Grant  had  marched  a  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  through  a  most  difficult   country  — 
skirmishing  constantly,    winning  five   sep- 
arate battles,  inflicting  greater  loss  than  he 
sustained,  destroying  arsenals  and  capturing 
cannon  — and,  on  May  18,  had  taken  pos- 
session of  the  dry  high  ground  north  of  Vicks- 
burg,  securing  a  base  of  supplies  which  had 
safe  and  unobstructed  water  communication 

»  April  30-May  18,  1863. 


.     .._     y 


GETTYSBURG  AND  VICKSBURG  151 

with  the  North.*  He  then  invested  the  city 
with  engineering  skill. 

Throughout  the  campaign  the  President 
had  given  Grant  faithful  support  and  he 
now  sent  him  reenforcements  adequate  to 
defeat  any  attempt  at  a  relief  of  the  gar- 
rison. Jefferson  Davis  made  strenuous 
efforts  to  save  his  important  fortress  but, 
after  draining  the  resources  of  the  Conf'^d- 
eracy,  he  could  not  furnish  his  general  with 
a  sufficient  force  to  justify  an  attack  upon 
Grant.  The  garrison  of  Vicksburg  was 
starved  into  capitulation.^ 

Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg  were  great 
victories.  Had  the  war  been  one  between 
two  nations,  it  would  now  have  undoubtedly 
termmated  in  a  treaty  of  peace,  with  condi- 
tions imposed  largely  by  the  more  success- 
ful combatant. 


Trade  relations  with  Europe  were  of  such 
a  character  that  the  North  and  the  South 
could  not  fight  their  battle  out  without  refer- 


>  IV,  309  et  ante. 


nV,  310  etseq. 


•  i 


152     ENGLAND  PROCLAIMS  NEUTRALITY 

ence  to  conditions  abroad,  and,  for  moral  as 
well  as  material  reasons,  England  was  the 
predominant  influence.       She  had  opposed 
slavery  and  the   North   looked  to  her  for 
sympathy.     On  the  other  hand  the  South- 
erners desired  material  aid  and  believed  that 
their  great  staple  would  compel  it.     Cotton 
is    King,   they  declared.       England   must 
have  it  to  keep  her  factories  going  and  give 
her  operatives  bread ;  she  will  be  eager  to 
exchange     for    cotton     her    manufactured 
goods  which  we  greatly  need.*     The  South 
was  disappointed.     England  issued  the  usual 
proclamation  of  neutrality  but  went  no  fur- 
ther.    Nor  was  the  North,  at  first,  any  bet- 
ter pleased  with  the  proclamation,  since  no 
nation  likes  to  see  those  whom  it  calls  rebels 
accorded  belligerent  rights.     But  as  Davis 
had  invited  applications  for  letters  of  marque 
and  Lincoln  had  proclaimed  a  blockade  of 
the  Southern  ports,  it  seemed  to  the  Eng- 

' "  With  their  cotton,  the  Confederates  were  like  Archimedes 
with  hia  lever,  confident  that  they  could  move  the  world  if  they 
once  got  a  place  to  stand  on."  Frederic  Bancroft,  Life  of  Seward, 
II,  269. 


ENGLISH  SENTIMENT 


153 


I 


lish  government  that  a  state  of  war  existed 
which  must  be  formally  recognized.^  Whilst 
considerable  dissatisfaction  was  expressed 
in  the  North  at  the  so-called  "  precipitate  " 
concession  of  belligerency  to  the  Confederate 
States  and  condemnation  of  it  bulks  large  in 
the  later  discussion,  England  was  not  actu- 
ated by  unfriendly  feeling  to  the  North  and, 
according  to  international  practice,  may  be 
abundantly  justified  for  her  action.^  And 
as  soon  as  the  wide  difference  between  the 
concession  of  belligerent  rights  and  a  rec- 
ognition of  the  independence  of  the  Confed- 
eracy was  appreciated,  both  President  and 
people  saw  that  there  was,  as  yet,  no  ground 
of  complaint  against  Great  Britain.  At  the 
same  time,  the  English  had  a  true  concep- 
tion of  the  conflict.  Lord  John  Russell's 
declaration  in  the  House  of  Commons  that 
the  trouble  had  "  arisen  from  that  accui-sed 

'  HI,  417.  All  the  important  powers  of  Europe  followed  sub- 
stantially the  action  of  Great  Britain. 

*  III,  420 ;  VI,  365  n.  1 ;  C.  F.  Adams,  The  Treaty  of  Washington, 
in  Lee  at  Appomattox,  96 ;  also  paper  j-ead  before  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society,  November,  1911 ;  Bancroft,  Life  of  Seward,  II,  176. 


H 


■f! 


;l 


\, 


! 


154 


ENGLISH  SENTIMENT 


institution  of  slavery"  was  generally  ap- 
proved; and  Charles  Francis  Adams,  our 
minister  to  England  noted  on  May  31,  1861 
that  the  favorable  feeling  toward  the  United 
States  among  the  people  at  large  had  ex- 
tended to  the  higher  circles.*  "  I  have  not 
seen  or  heard  of  a  soul,"  wrote  Charles  Dar- 
win in  a  private  letter  on  June  5  [1861] 
"  who  is  not  with  the  North."  ^  But  Palmer- 
ston  perceived  a  divided  duty  saying  with 
cynical  frankness  to  an  American,  "  We  do 
not  like  slavery  but  we  want  cotton  and 
we  dislike  very  much  your  Morrill  tariff." ' 
This  tariff,  enacted  after  the  secession  of 
the  Southern  senators,  was  regarded  in 
England  as  a  measure  of  high  protection  to 
American  manufacturers. 

If  the  initial  victory  had  been  gained  by 
the  North,  the  friendly  feeling  would  doubt- 
less have  persisted  and  grown,  but  the  South 
won  the  first  battle  and,  when  the  story  of 
Bull  Run  became  known,  a  marked  revulsion 


•III,  426,  429. 


Uuly  30.     Ill,  433. 


»III,  502. 


ENGLISH  SENTIMENT 


155 


of  sentiment  took  place.  The  prominent 
public  men  distinctly  favorable  to  the  South 
were  balanced  by  the  outspoken  friends  of 
the  North  amongst  whom  were  Bright, 
Cobden,  William  E.  Forstcr,  the  Duke  of 
Argyll  and  Thomas  E.  Hughes;  but  the 
main  body  of  the  aristocracy  and  middle 
class  thought  that  the  Union  could  not  con- 
quer the  Confederacy  and  earnestly  longed 
for  the  war  to  cease.  The  aristocracy  will- 
ingly believed  that  the  "  bubble  of  democracy 
had  burst  in  America,"  aware  as  they  were 
that  a  divided  Union  would  be  less  of  a 
moral  menace  than  a  compact  democratic 
federal  government  to  the  intrenched  rights, 
on  which  the  polity  of  Great  Britain  was 
based.  In  the  middle  class  merchants  and 
manufacturers  were  in  dire  straits  because 
the  supply  of  cotton  was  cut  off.  General 
business  was  deranged  in  consequence. 
Thousands  of  workingmen  saw  hunger  star- 
ing them  in  the  face  whilst  the  well-to-do 
were  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  curtailed  in- 
comes demanding  a  sacrifice  of  luxuries  and 


•s 


'!>! 


J 


if 


*i 


156 


THE  COTTON  FAMINE 


even  some  of  the  adjuncts  of  comfortable 
existence.     Gold  win  Smith,  a  friend  to  the 
North,  was  justified  in  describing  the  state 
of  affairs  as  "  The  awful  peril  not  only  com- 
mercial but  social  with  which  the  cotton 
famine  threatened  us  and  the  thrill  of  alarm 
and  horror  which  upon  the  dawning  of  that 
peril  ran  through  the  whole  land."  *     Peace 
would  open  the  Southern  ports,  cotton  would 
again  come  to  England ;  and  as  the  great 
body  of  voting  Liberals  and  Conservatives 
believed  that  the  South  was  certain  in  the 
end  to  gain  her  independence,  the  sooner 
that  fact  was  acknowledged  by  the  North, 
the  better.     This  doctrine  found  able  expo- 
nents in   Palmerston  and  Husseli,  the   two 
leading  men  of  the  Cabinet  and  received  the 
powerful  support  of  the  Times  and  the  Sat- 
nrday  Review.     "  The  people  of  the  Southern 
States,"  declared  the  Times,  "  may  be  wrong 
but  they  are  ten  millions."^     Although  the 

*  III,  503.  "  Excepting  the  Irish  famine,  the  country  had  seen 
no  such  distress  for  a  century."     Bancroft,  Life  of  Seward,  II,  302. 

'  III,  509  */  ante.  In  fact  only  nine  millions,  five  and  one- 
half  million  whites,  three  and  one  half  million  negroes. 


WILLIAM  H.   RUSSELL  IW 

Times  here  slightly  exaggerated  their  num- 
bers it  was  right  in  implying  that  they  were  a 
formidable  people  to  subdue.  On  the  other 
hand  the  South  attracted  sympathy  because 
she  was  the  weaker  party  and  was  making 
a  fight  for  independence  as  the  Italians  had 
done  in  their  War  of  Liberation  of  1859. 

Short-sightedness  and  the  sting  of  defeat 
were  responsible  for  our  government  and 
people  committing  a  blunder  which  tended 
further  to  alienate  the  country  whose  sym- 
pathy was  so  much  desired.  England  was 
under  the  reign  of  the  ten-pounders  when 
the  Times  had  an  almost  overpowering  influ- 
ence on  the  governing  opinion.*  Though 
Delane  had  become  a  partisan  of  the  South, 
his  correspondent  in  America,  William  H. 
Russell,  differed  from  him  and  presented  in 
his  correspondence  a  view  opposed  to  that 
of  the  editor  and  his  leader-writers.  Before 
actual  fighting  began,  he  made  a  journey 
through  the  Southern  States,  writing  graphic 
and  impartial  letters,  in  which  he  told  the 

» IV,  83. 


:-fi 


Si 


r 


158 


SLAVE  AUCTION 


English  public  in  unmistakable  terms  that 
the  cause  of  the  South  was  the  cause  of  the 
slave  power.     Detesting  slavery  as  he  did, 
he  gave  an  account  of  a  slave  auction  Mrit- 
nessed  by  himself  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Capitol,  in  which  the  Confederate  Congress 
was  sitting,  which  was  worth  reams  of  jour- 
nalistic argument.     A  stout  young  man  of 
five  and  twenty  was  being  knocked  down 
for  nine  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars. 
"I  am  neither  sentimentalist,"  Russell  wrote, 
"  nor  Black  Rcpubhcan,  nor  negro-worship- 
per, but  I  confess  the  sight  caused  a  strange 
thrill  through  my  heart.     I  tried  in  vain  to 
make  myself  familiar  with  the  fact  that  I 
could  for  the  sum  of  nine  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five dollars,  become  as  absolutely  the 
owner  of  that  mass  of  blood,  bones,  sinew, 
flesh  and  brains  as  of  the  horse  which  stood 
by  my  side.     There  was  no  sophistry  which 
could  persuade  me  the  man  was  not  a  man ; 
he  was  indeed  by  no  means  my  brother,  but 
assuredly  he  was  a  fellow  creature."^     With 

» Letter  to  the  Timei  from  Montgomery,  May  8, 1861.    Ill,  431  n. 


RUSSELL'S  ACCOUNT  OF  BULL  RUN     159 

due  appreciation,  Adams  Hpokc  of  RuHscirs 
letters  as  swaying  opinion  in  favor  of  the 
North.*  And  it  was  not  Delane  who  called 
this  sound  and  able  writer  home.  We 
drove  him  away. 

Russell  saw  the  l  i-ijii  fof^es  retreating 
in  panic  after  the  >attlo  of  u  '  Run  and 
wrote  an  intere^,f■■l.^  ..;i('  iV(  or.fi  eport  of 
his  experience.  U  iils  It-;  •.  lir'  appeared 
immediately  ii  rY.c  "'^r'lrrii  hcvn spapers  it 
would  have  been  ;»  .-uaed  merely  as  the 
best  written  accouii^  A  t)ie  j  ffair  but  a 
month  elapsed  before  the  Times,  in  which  it 
was  printed,  reached  America.  Then  over- 
sensitive ones  who  had  been  chewing  the 
cud  of  defeat  read  into  it  a  sneer  at  the 
supposed  cowardice  of  the  Northern  troops 
and  imposed  this  interpretation  on  the  pub- 
lic generally,  who  henceforth  spoke  dispar- 
agingly of  "  Bull  Run  Russell."  Our 
friend's  position  was  made  uncomfc  able, 
and  his  enemies  were  on  the  alert  to  seize 
hold  of  anything  that   might   compromise 

^  June  21.     111,431. 


. 


'1 


1 


I 


160  OSTRACISM  OF  RUSSELL 

him.  Unearthing  a  telegram,  they  accused 
him  of  having  betrayed  confidential  informa- 
tion from  the  British  Embassy  for  the  pm-- 
pose  of  speculating  in  Wall  street.  His 
explanation  was  entirely  satisfactory  and,  in 
in  any  case,  the  aggrieved  parties  were  the 
British  Embassy  and  the  Times.  Convinced 
that  Russell  had  been,  at  the  worst,  merely 
indiscreet,  Delane  wished  him  to  remain  in 
America,  but  owing  to  the  unfriendly  feel- 
ing which  had  grown  up  around  him  and 
the  base  use  that  was  made  of  this  unfortu- 
nate incident,  he  was  hampered  in  getting 
permits  to  accompany  the  army.  Conclud- 
ing that  his  usefulness  was  at  an  end  he 
went  home.* 

The  ostracism  of  Russell  meant  a  loss  to 
our  cause  in  so  far  as  it  depended  upon  a 
correct  English  appreciation.  He  early 
recognized  Lincoln's  parts  and  would  have 
rejoiced  in  the  delineation  of  liis  growing 

»  Russell  in  a  private  letter  to  Delane  wrote  on  Oct.  14,  1861, 
"The  Americans,  with  all  their  faults,  are  a  prodigious  fine  peo- 
ple, and  I  cannot  help  admiring  many  things  about  them."  — 
Atkins,  Life  of  W.  II.  Uussell,   II,  65. 


THE  TIMES 


161 


power  as  he  grappled  with   slavery*  and 
moved  generals  and  armies  to  final  triumph. 
Grateful  as  was  the  North  for  the  support 
of  the  Daily  News  and  Spectator,  Russell's 
letters  in  the    Times  would  have  been  an 
additional   and   powerful    influence.      The 
President   ought    indubitably   to  have  in- 
terfered in  Russell's  behalf.      In  their  first 
interview  he   spoke   of  the   Times   as   one 
of  the  greatest  powers  in  the  world.     But 
after  the   Bull  Run  letter  he  "looked  as 
black  as  thunder"   so   Russell  wrote,   and 
later  explained  his  coldness  by  the  remark, 
"  You  represent  the  Times  which  has  shown 
such  a  bitter  enmity  to  the  United  States."  ^ 
Before  the  end   of  1861    we  committed 
a  still  greater  blunder  in  not  disavowing 
promptly  the  act  of  an   "ambitious,  self- 
conceited  and  self-willed "«  naval  captam. 
Wilkes,  in  command  of  an  American  man- 

>Ru88eU  wrote  privately  Dec.  20,  1881,  "I  am  much  exer- 
ci8ed  about  the  Southern  people  becoming  independent  and  a 
slave  power."  — Atkins,  Life  of  W.  H.  Russell,  II,  89. 

•Atkins,  Life  of  W.  H.  Russell,  II,  76,  85. 

•Wellea'i  Diary,  I,  87. 


IM 


h   i 


I: 


•  t  1 
.1 1 


* 


( 


162     CAPTURE  OF  MASON  AND  SLIDELL 

of-war  stopped  the  British  mail  steamship 
Trent  in  the  Bahama  channel  and  took  from 
her  by  force  Mason  and  Slidell,  commis- 
sioners from  the  Southern  Confederacy  to 
Great  Britain  and  France,  then  on  their 
way  from  Havana  to  Southampton.  He 
heeded  neither  their  appeal  to  the  British 
flag  for  protection  nor  the  protest  of  a 
Captain  of  the  royal  navy  in  charge  c  f  the 
mails.  When  the  news  of  this  incident 
was  received  in  New  York  (Nov.  16,  1861) 
tlie  country  went  as  wild  with  jubilant  de- 
light as  if  a  great  victory  had  been  won  in 
the  field.  I  remember  going,  when  a  boy 
of  thirteen,  to  a  war  meeting  in  Cleveland 
and  hearing  the  thunders  of  applause  which 
greeted  a  mention  of  this  capture  as  an  im- 
portant success.  The  Northern  people  had 
waited  and  watched  so  long  for  some  result 
from  the  immense  levies  of  men  and  of  money 
that  no  rejoicing  could  seem  excessive  when 
they  saw  two  of  their  hated  enemies  —  the 
one  author  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  the 
other  champion  of  filibustering  in  the  in- 


JUSTIFICATION  OF  THE  ACT  163 

terest    of    filavery  —  delivered    into    their 
hands.     The   Secretary  of  the   Navy   sent 
Wilkes   a    congratulatory    letter.      Boston 
gave  him  a  banquet,  at  which  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  and  the  Chief  Justice  of 
her    Supreme    Court    praised    his    action. 
The  national  House  of  Representatives,  on 
the   first   day   of  its   session   thanked  him 
"for  his   brave,    adroit   and   patriotic  con- 
duct."    His  act   was  justified   by   lawyers 
and  statesmen.     Two  public  men  however 
pointed  out  the  only   correct   course   open 
to  the  government.     Of  the  captives.  Sena- 
tor Sunmer  said  at  once  "We  shall   have 
to   give   them   up."^      Montgomery   Blair, 
a  member  of  the  cabinet  recommended  that 
Wilkes    be    ordered   to   take    Mason    and 
Slidell  on  a  war-ship  to  England   and  de- 
liver  them   to    the    English    government.* 
The  President  at  first  perceived  clearly  the 
national    obligation.       "I   fear   these   men 
will  prove  to  be  white  elephants,"  he  said. 
"We    must   stick   to   American   principles 


» Pierce's  Sumner,  IV,  52. 


"111,523. 


f . 


:  T^Sit^a 


164       MASON  AND  SLIDELL  PRISONERS 


li 


■  f 


■■i'; 


concerning  the  rights  of  neutrals."*  He 
ought  to  have  had  more  confidence  in  his 
power  of  leading  public  sentiment  and  trans- 
formed his  words  into  action.  For  it  would 
have  been  grateful  and  astute,  honorable 
and  politic  to  have  delivered  up  Mason  and 
Slidell  before  the  English  government  made 
a  peremptory  demand  for  them.  Such  ac- 
tion would  have  lent  an  irresistible  force 
to  all  our  subsequent  entreaties  to  England 
to  observe  scrupulously  her  neutrality  or 
rather  it  would  have  rendered  such  entreat- 
ies needless,  since  the  fact  of  standing  by 
our  own  precedents,  when  they  went  against 
us,  would  have  won  the  respect  due  to  a 
far-sighted  international  deed  and  insured 
us  the  friendly  neutrality  of  Great  Britain. 
Instead  of  being  at  once  surrendered,  Masou 
and  Slidell  were  confined  as  prisoners  in 
Fort  Warren,  Boston  harbor.  But  for  the 
extreme  tension  existing  generally  in  North- 
em  minds  as  a  result  of  weary  expectation 
and  repeated  disappointment,  the  President 


1  Lossing's  Ciril  War,  II,  156. 


SENSATION   IN  ENGLAND 


les 


and  his  advisers  would  undoubtedly  have 
realized,  as  did  the  Times  that,  "  the  voices 
of  these  Southern  commissioners,  somiding 
from  their  captivity,  are  a  thousand  times 
more  eloquent  in  London  and  Paris  than 
they  would  have  been  if  heard  at  St.  James's 
and  the  Tuileries."  ^ 

The  news  made  a  great  sensation  in  Eng- 
land ;  the  opinion  was  general  that  the 
arrest  of  Mason  and  Slidell  was  an  outrage 
on  tlie  flag.  According  to  English  prece- 
dents and  abstract  legal  reasoning  from 
them,  the  act  of  Wilkes  might  be  justified,^ 
but  face  to  face  with  the  concrete  fact  in 
1861,  anybody  could  see  that  no  strong 
neutral  power  with  a  large  merchant  marine 
could  permit  a  belligerent  to  stop  and  search 
its  ships  and  seize  emissaries  of  the  enemy 
who  had  trusted  to  the  protection  of  the 
flag.  The  Eiiglisli  Cabinet  decided  that  the 
act  of  Captain  Wilkes  was  "  a  clear  violation 

»  Nov.  28,  III,  523. 

«C.  F.  Aflams.  Military  and   Diplomatic  Studies,  398:  Paper 
read  before  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Nov.  lyil ;  Daseiit's  Delane,  II,  36. 


^i*- 


v^-^5fci:i»^*'*^*4>l 


f 

1 


i    ;' 
,  I 

3 1 


Ili 


u 

i : 


166 


ENGLAND'S  ATTITUDE 


of  the  law  of  nations  and  one  for  which  repara- 
tion must  be  at  once  demanded."  Earl  Rus- 
sell prepared  a  despatch  to  Lord  Lyons,  the 
British  minister  in  Washington,  the  lan- 
guage of  which  was  softened  and  made  more 
friendly  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Queen  and 
Prince  Consort,  but  even  as  modified,  the 
British  government's  demand  was  for  the 
liberation  of  Mason  and  Slidell  and  "  a 
suitable  apology  for  the  aggression."  *  As 
there  was  as  that  time  no  cable  between 
England  and  America,  the  despatch  was 
sent  to  Washhigton  by  a  Queen's  messenger 
and  reached  the  Secretary  of  State  through 
the  usual  diplomatic  channel.  Tlie  Presi- 
dent and  his  Cabinet  carefully  considered 
the  demand,  saw  the  justice  of  it  and  de- 
livered ^lason  and  Slidell  to  an  English 
steamer.  The  disavowal  of  the  act  was 
accepted  as  a  sufficient  apology.* 

Considering  the  intense  feeling  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  each  government  acted 
moderately  and  with  dignity.     In  the  flush 


« III,  325. 


*  III,  uaS  el  ante. 


i-^i 


ENGLAND'S  ATTITUDE 


167 


of  excitement,  American  jingoes  were  con- 
spicuous, talking  recklessly  of  their  desire  to 
fight  the  traditional  enemy,  seeming  to  ig- 
nore in  their  boasts  the  certainty  that  war 
with  Great  Britain  would  mean  that  we  must 
abandon  our  effort  to  defeat  the  South. 
In  England  during  the  first  explosion,  the 
active  sympathizers  with  the  South  were 
eager  to  embroil  the  two  countries  but  a 
large  majority  wished  a  peaceful  settlement  * 
and  did  not  contemplate  with  satisfaction  an 
alliance  with  a  slave  power.  Such  was  un- 
doubtedly the  opinion  of  nearly  all  those 
persons  to  whom  the  Times  was  either  an 
organ  or  an  oracle,  although  the  editor  him- 
self held  the  opposite  view.  There  is  a 
"real,  downright,  honest  desire  to  avenge 

*  Robert  Browning  wrote  to  W.  W.  Story  on  Dec.  31,  1861 : 
"  I  have  not  heard  one  man,  woman  or  child  express  anything  but 
dismay  at  the  prospect  of  being  obliged  to  go  to  war  on  any  grounds 
with  America ;  but  every  one  felt  there  might  be  an  obligation  as 
stringent  as  a  slap  on  the  face  in  public  from  one's  bosom  friend." 
Henry  James,  Life  of  Story,  II,  109. 

On  our  side,  Charles  Eliot  Norton  wrote  on  the  same  day  to 
George  W.  Curtis:  "Shall  we  yet  have  to  fight  England?  With 
all  my  heart  I  hope  not,  —  but  if  need  be  I  am  ready."  Atlantic 
Monthly,  Nov.  1912,  605. 


I 


I* 


.i|; 


^i  r 


Iv 


r 


188 


RESULTANT  OPINION 


old  scores,"  wrote  Delano  in  a  private  letter. 
"  The  whole  Anny,  Navy  and  Volunteers  are 
of  one  mind  and  all  mad  for  service  in 
America."*  The  seizure,  our  neglect  to 
surrender  Mason  and  Slidell  at  once,  our 
popular  approval  of  Wilkes  lost  us  likewise 
the  good  will  of  friends.  "I  agree  with 
you,"  wrote  Darwin  to  Sir  Joseph  Hooker 
on  January  25,  1862,  "  the  present  Ameri- 
can row  has  a  very  Toryfying  influence  on 
us  all."  2  On  the  other  hand  the  intensity 
on  our  side  is  seen  in  its  survival  in  James 
Russell  Lowell,  who  wrote  seven  years  later : 
"  It  is  the  Trent  that  we  quarrel  about,  like 
Percy  and  Glendower.  That  was  like  an 
east  wind  to  our  old  wound  and  set  it 
atwinge  once  more.  .  .  .  That  imperious 
despatch  of  Lord  John's  made  all  those  in- 
herited drops  of  ill-blood  as  hot  as  present 
wrongs." ' 

1  Atkins,  Life  of  W.  H.  Russell,  11,  88. 

« III,  543. 

» III,  54'2,  see  especially  note  2.  Excellent  accounts  of  the 
Trent  affair  are  in  C.  V.  Adams's  Life  of  Charles  Francis  Adams 
and  in  his  paper  read  before  the  Mass.  Historical  Society  at  the 


THE  ALABAMA 


169 


In  international  difFerencos,  the  blunders 
are  rarely  confined  to  one  side.  The  neglect 
of  the  British  government  to  detain  the  war 
steamers  Florida  and  Alabama,  which  were 
built  in  18G2  for  the  Southern  Confederacy, 
were  violations  of  the  neutrality  which  had 
been  formally  declared.  The  case  of  the 
Alabama  was  the  more  flagrant  of  the  two. 
The  story  of  her  building  and  escape  is  a 
long  one  which  may  not  be  related  here.  I 
will,  however,  mention  the  declarations  of 
three  eminent  Englishmen.  Sir  Robert 
Collier,  Queen's  Counsel,  whose  opinion  had 
been  asked  by  Adams,  our  minister,  said, 
before  the  Alabama  got  away,  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  collector  of  customs  in  Liver- 
pool to  detain  the  Alabama.  'It  appears 
difficult  to  make  out  a  stronger  case  of  in- 
fringement of  the  Foreign  Enhstment  Act, 
which  if  not  enforced  on  this  occasion  is 
little  better  than   a   dead    letter."     Chief 


November  meeting  of  mil ;  and  in  Cliapter  XXXIII  of  Bancroft's 
Life  of  Seward.  See  also  R.  H.  Dana':^  papter  read  before  the 
Mass.  Historical  Society  at  the  March  meeting  of  1»12. 


•! 


no 


THE  ALABAMA 


Justice     Cockbuni     the    Knfrlish    member 

of  the  Geneva  Tribunal,  dclured,*  It  was 

the  duty  of  the  Cominissioni  rs  of  Customs, 

to   whom   as    his   superiors   the    Collector 

had    referred  the    matter,    "to   direct    the 

seizure"   of   the   Alabama.     Earl    Hussell, 

tlie  liighest  in  authority,  wrote  in  after  years 

with  a  candor  which   does  him  honor,  "I 

ought  to  have  been  satisfied  with  the  opinion 

of  Sir   Robert   Collier  and   to  have  given 

orders  to  detain   the  Alabama  at   Birken- 
liead."2 

The  military  reverses  during  the  summer 
of  1862  confirmed  the  majority  of  English 
voters  in  their  opinion  that  the  North  could 
not  conquer  the  South,  and  this  opinion 
was  shared  by  many  of  our  friends. 
"  There  is  an  all  but  unanimous  belief  that 
you  cannot  subject  the  South  to  the  Union," 
wrote  Cobden  to  Sumner.  "I  feel  quite 
convinced  that  unless  cotton  comes  in  con- 
siderable quantities  before  the  end  of  the 
year,  the  governments  of  Europe  will  be 


» In  1872. 


*  IV,  88  el  anU. 


IM 


WILL  ENGLAND  OFFER  MEDIATION?    171 

knocking  at  your  door."*  The  cotton 
famine  was  then  at  its  height'  and  Cob- 
den's  fears  came  near  realization.  Since 
the  autumn  of  1861,  Louis  Napoleon  had 
been  eager  for  the  cooperation  of  England 
in  recognizing  the  independence  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy  and  breaking  the 
blockade  or,  if  she  would  not  go  so  far,  in 
an  offer  of  mediation;  he  wanted  cotton 
and  moreover  desired  the  backing  of  the 
South  in  his  Mexican  adventure.  Palmer- 
ston,  in  touch  with  his  majority  in  the 
House  and  with  the  voters  who  elected  it, 
wrote  to  Earl  Russell  on  September  14, 
1862,  "  The  Federals  got  a  very  complete 
smashing  "  and  if  Washington  or  Baltimore 
"  fall  into  the  hands  of  tlie  Confederates " 
as  "seems  not  altogether  unlikely"  should 
not  P^ngland  and  France  "  address  the 
contending  parties  and  recommend  an 
agreement  upon  the  basis  of  separation  1 " 

>  July  11, 1862,  IV,  85  n. 

*  To  be  exact  it  was  at  its  height  during  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1882,  IV,  84  n.,  363  n. ;  Bancroft,  Life  of  Seward,  II, 
302. 


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172 


GLADSTONE 


Russell  agreed  and  suggested  a  meeting  of 
the  cabinet  to  consider  the  matter.     Palmer- 
ston,  however,  as  he  watched  the  sequence 
of  events,  realized  that  the  Northern  victory 
of  Antietam   had  a  considerable  effect  on 
the  British  public;  he  therefore  counselled 
a  brief  delay.^    Now  Gladstone,  the  third 
member  in  importance  in  the  Cabinet,  came 
to   the   front.     Having   been   informed  by 
Palmerston  of  his  and  Russell's  view  of  the 
course   which   ought   to   be   taken   by  the 
English  government  and  having  expressed 
his  concurrence  in  it  with  the  added  sugges- 
tion that  the  proceedings  be  prompt,  Glad- 
stone took  the  public  into  the  government's 
confidence  in  his  celebrated  speech  in  New- 
castle on  October  7,  and,  in  the  light  of  his 
own  carefully  matured  opinion,  emphasized 
what  he  thought  was  the  definite  conclusion 
of  the  ministry.     "  There  is  no  doubt,"  he 
declared,  "that  Jefferson  Davis  and  other 
leaders  of  the  South  have  made  an  army ; 
they  are  making,  it  appears,  a  navy;  and 

» IV,  338,  339. 


MOVEMENT  TOWARD  MEDIATION       173 

they  have  made  what  is  more  than  either 
—  they  have  made  a  nation.  We  may 
anticipate  with  certainty  the  success  of  the 
Southern  States  so  far  as  their  separation 
from  the  North  is  concerned."  ^  The  con- 
struction which  the  country  naturally  put 
upon  this  speech  was  that  the  government 
had  determined  on  the  recognition  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  If  I  had  entirely 
trusted  to  this  construction,  said  Adams 
later  to  Earl  Russell,  "  I  should  have  begun 
to  think  of  packing  my  carpet-bag  and 
trunks."^  And  for  the  moment  Gladstone 
seemed  indeed  to  have  proclaimed  the 
government's  policy.  Six  days  later  (Octo- 
ber 13),  Russell  sent  to  his  colleagues  a  con- 
fidential memorandum,  inquiring  "  whether 
it  is  not  a  duty  for  Europe  to  ask  both 
parties  in  the  most  friendly  and  conciliatory 
terms  to  agree  to  a  suspension  of  arms," 
and  appointing  October  23  for  a  Cabinet 
meeting  to  consider  the  question.  But  the 
next   day   after  the   despatch   of  Russell's 


» IV,  339. 


» IV,  339,  341. 


Iv 


ii. 

hi 


174     ENGLAND  DECLINED  TO  MEDIATE 

communication,  Sir  George  Cornewall 
Lewis,  the  member  of  the  Cabinet  ranking 
next  in  importance  to  Gladstone,  made 
a  speech  at  Palmerston's  request,  which 
plainly  left  the  inference  to  be  drawn  that 
the  government  had  no  intention  of  recog- 
nizing the  independence  of  the  Southern 
States.^  It  is  not  clear  why  Palmerston  so 
suddenly  changed  his  mind  nor  why  he 
did  not  notify  Earl  Russell,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  issuing  of  the  confidential  memorandum. 
At  all  events,  the  appointed  Cabinet  meet- 
ing was  not  held  and  it  was  informally 
determined  that  the  existing  policy  of 
non-intervention  should  be  continued.^  A 
month  later  the  Enghsh  government  de- 
clined to  join  the  Emperor  of  the  French 
in  an  offer  of  mediation  between  the  South 
and  the  North.^ 


n 


» IV,  341 ;  Morley's  Gladstone,  II,  80 ;  Adams's  Military  and 
Diplomatic  Studies,  409. 

«  IV,  343 ;  Dip.  Corr.,  223,  225-226 ;  Adams's  Military  and 
Diplomatic  Studies,  410 ;  Mass.  His.  Soc.  2d  ser.  XX,  469 ;  The 
Timen,  Oct.  24,  1862  citing  Globe  of  Oct.  23. 

*  IV,  347. 


FAVORABLE  ENGLISH  SENTIMENT       175 

It  was  certainly  not  Lincoln's  preliminary 
proclamation  of  emancipation  which  pre- 
vented a  change  of  policy  on  the  part  of 
the  Palmerston-Russell  ministry  for  the 
governing  classes  generally  regarded  this 
pronouncement  as  calculated  to  excite  ser- 
vile insurrection.^  Far  otherwise  from  the 
ten-pounders,  who  may  have  numbered  a 
million,  opined  the  five  million  men  who 
did  not  possess  the  franchise.-  These,  al- 
most to  a  man,  applauded  the  proclamation 
and  admired  its  author.  When  it  came  to 
be  fully  imderstood  and  when  the  supple- 
mentary edict  of  January  1,  18G3  had  es- 
tablished it  as  a  fixed  policy,  large  public 
meetings  were  held  all  over  England  in  sup- 
port of  emancipation  and  every  mention  of 
Lincoln's  name  was  greeted  with  cheers. 
"  God  bless  and  strengthen  the  North  ;  give 
victory  to  their  arms !  "  prayed  Spurgeon  to 
his  congregation  of  many  thousands.  A 
large  dt'egation  of  anti-slavery  people  left 

»IV,  343;  Adams,  Life  of  C.  F.  Adams.  291. 
«John  Bright,  Sjieeches,  II,  10!  ;  IV,  358. 


176 


LINCOLN 


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t' 
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1 1 


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■  \ 


4 


me,  so  Adams  wrote,  "  with  hearty  shakes 
of  the  hand  that  marked  the  existence  of 
active  feeling  at  bottom,  the  genuine  Eng- 
lish heartiness  of  good  will."  * 

How  the  common  people  of  England  dif- 
fered from  the  people  of  means  and  educa- 
tion in  their  estimate  of  Lincoln  was  a 
striking  feature  of  the  situation.  An  Eng- 
lish friend  of  William  H.  Russell's,  who  had 
accompanied  him  in  a  visit  to  the  army- 
headquarters  in  Washington,  asked,  "  Why 
did  you  stand  up  when  that  tall  fellow  in 
the  shooting  suit  came  into  the  room?" 
"Because  it  was  the  President."  "The 
President  of  what?"  "Of  the  United 
States  ! "  Oh !  come  now,  you're  hum- 
bugging me.  Let  me  have  another  look 
at  him."  Another  look  was  followed  by 
the  exclamation,  "I  give  up  the  United 
States !  "  ^  The  Marquis  of  Hartington  saw 
Lincoln  a  few  days  after  the  issue  of  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation  and  wrote 
thus  to  his  father :    "I  never  saw  such  a 

» IV,  351,  354.  «  Atkins,  Life  of  W.  H.  Russell,  II,  83. 


LINCOLN 


177 


specimen  of  a  Yankee  in  my  life.  I  should 
think  he  was  a  very  well  meaning  sort  of  a 
man  but,  almost  every  one  says,  about  as 
fit  for  his  position  now  as  a  fire  shovel."* 
In  a  letter  of  February  1863,  Hartington 
shows  the  contrast  between  the  sentiment 
of  his  class  and  that  of  the  common  people. 
"I  am  decidedly  very  Southern  in  the 
main,"  he  wrote,  "  and  from  what  I  see, 
that  would  not  at  all  suit  my  constituents. 
How  they  can  be  so  idiotic  as  to  admire 
Lincoln  and  his  Emancipation  Proclamation 
and  how  they  can  talk  such  nonsense  as 
they  do  about  emancipation  I  cannot  under- 
stand and  I  shall  have  to  tell  them  so."  ^ 

In  our  own  country  as  well  Lincoln's 
hold  was  on  the  plain  people.  Not  in 
Washington  did  one  find  his  unvarying  ad- 
mirers. His  undignified  bearing,  grotesque- 
ness  of  speech  and  manner  —  still  more  his 
proneness  to  jocularity  when  others  were 
depressed  —  proved  severely  trying  to  seri- 

'  Sept.  29, 1 862.    Hollaud,  Life  of  Uie  Duke  of  Devonshire,  I,  43. 
«Ibid,  I,  53. 


'  >  ' ■  •  It 
[I  it.  I 


;  • 


m 
111 


H 


178 


LINCOLN 


!1 


1 


■J 


la  '. 

If  - 


0U8  men  who  were  anxious  for  the  safety  of 
the  State.  There  were  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives and  at  least  one  member  of  his 
cabinet  who  had  a  profound  contempt  for 
his  supposed  abihty  and  were  undisguisedly 
repelled  by  his  daily  walk  and  conversation ; 
but  the  soldiers  and  sailors,  the  operatives 
of  New  England,  the  iron  workers  in  Pitts- 
burg and  the  farmers  of  the  West,  who 
knew  him  by  his  State  papers,  letters  and 
speeches  developed  for  him  a  respect  and 
affectionate  sympathy  which  never  lessened 
but  almost  constantly  grew.^ 

If  the  North  could  have  had  military  suc- 
cess early  in  1863,  the  uprising  of  the  Eng- 
lish common  people  in  her  favor  would  have 
settled  the  policy  of  the  English  government, 
but  in  the  actual  sequence  of  events,  the  dep- 

'  IV,  210.  "  Homely,  honest,  ungainly  Lincoln,"  wrota  Asa 
Gray  to  Darwin  on  Feb.  16,  18tj4,  "  is  the  representative  man  of 
the  country."  IV,  461.  There  \va.s  a  similar  de  -elopment  of 
opinion  in  England.  On  Nov.  20,  1863,  John  Bright  wrote  to 
Sumner :  "  It  is  remarkable  that  in  this  country  all  parties  have 
a  high  respect  for  Lincoln  —  so  much  does  a  real  integrity  gain 
upon  the  minds  of  all  men."  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proceedings  XL VI, 
127. 


THE  IRONCLAD  RAMS 


179 


redations  of  the  Alabama,  almost  sweeping 
our  flag  from  the  seas,  together  with  the  con- 
struction of  three  more  war-ships  at  Liver- 
pool and  Birkenhead,  intended  for  Confed- 
erate cruisers,  brought  the  two  countries  to 
the  brink  of  war.  In  a  correspondence  with 
Earl  Russell  that  was  not  wholly  free  from 
acerbity,  Adams  persistently  urged  upon  the 
English  government  its  responsibility  for  the 
destruction  caused  by  the  Alabama.  Whilst 
Russell  on  behalf  of  his  government  dis- 
claimed all  responsibility,  he  nevertheless  be- 
lieved that  he  had  been  tricked  in  the  affair 
of  the  vessel's  escape ;  and  his  action  in. 
1863  was  the  action  of  a  friendly  neutral. 
He  stopped  the  gunboat  Alexandra  which 
was  intended  for  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
Then  peace  or  war  depended  upon  the  seiz- 
ure of  two  ironclad  rams  building  at  Birk- 
enhead, which,  if  suffered  to  escape  as  did 
the  Alabama,  might  break  the  blockade, 
ascend  the  Potomac,  render  Washington 
uninhabitable  and  lay  Philadelphia  under 
contribution.     The  Confederate  agent  was 


It-.' 


180 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS 


4 

« 1 

I 


,» 


astute  and  made  an  adroit  effort  to  conceal 
the  real  ownership.*  The  deceitful  transfer 
of  the  vessels  and  the  judicial  construction 
of  the  statute  in  the  case  of  the  Alexandra  ^ 
hedged  Earl  Russell  about  with  difficulties, 
but  quickened  by  an  honest  purpose,  he 
perceived,  through  the  meshes  of  intrigue, 
that  the  ironclad  rams  were  intended  for 
the  Southern  Confederacy  and  directed  that 
they  be  detained.  Eventually  they  were 
purchased  by  the  British  Admiralty.^ 

We  were  fortunate  in  our  minister  to  Eng- 
land, Charles  Francis  Adams,  wliose  diplo- 
matic course  was  almost  faultless.  He  won 
the  respect  and  liking  of  Lord  Russell  and 
came  to  be  highly  esteemed  in  London  so- 
ciety.     After  Russell  in  the  aflfair  of  the 


1 


*  He  had  sold  the  rams  to  a  French  firm  who  had  engaged 
themselves  to  resell  them  to  him  when  they  should  get  beyond 
British  jurisdiction. 

'  The  Lord  Chief  Baron  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer  decided 
that  the  government  had  no  right  to  seize  the  gunboat. 

»  IV,  384  et  ante.  Adams,  Life  of  Charles  F.  Adams,  315 ;  Ban- 
croft, Life  of  Seward,  IL  303,  314,  p.  383  et  seq.  Stopping  these  iron- 
clads "  is  a  question  of  life  or  death."  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  Fox,  Life  of  J.  M.  Forbes,  II,  23. 


ENGLAND  — EMPEROR  OF  THE  FRENCH  181 

Alexandra  had  determined  on  a  friendly 
neutrality,  the  victories  of  Gettysburg  and 
Vicksburg  came  to  strengthen  his  hand  in 
the  seizure  of  the  ironclad  rams.  Thence- 
forward there  was  no  danger  of  foreign  in- 
tervention in  our  conflict. 

If,  in  reviewing  the  attitude  of  foreign 
powers,  the  policy  of  the  Emperor  of  the 
French  be  contrasted  with  that  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Great  Britain  the  latter  appears 
to  border  on  friendliness.  England  indeed 
was  the  insurmountable  obstacle  to  the  rec- 
ognition of  the  Southern  Confederacy  by 
France  and  other  European  nations.^ 


» IV,  38S.  In  September  1861,  Benjamin  the  Secretary  .f  State 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  wrote:  "The  English  government 
has  scarcely  disguised  its  hostility.  From  the  commencement  of 
the  struggle  it  has  professed  a  newly  invented  neutrality  which  it 
had  frankly  defined  as  meaning  !\  course  of  conduct  more  favorable 
to  the  stronger  belligerents."  Bancroft  presenting  a  careful  North- 
ern view  makes  this  conmient :  "  The  offence  of  the  British  govern- 
ment was  that  it  did  not  use  due  diligence  to  prevent  the  departure 
of  the  Confederate  ships  or  to  detain  them  when  they  came  within 
colonial  ports.  The  attitude  of  the  French  government  was  very 
different.  .  .  .  Napoleon  suggested  to  Slidell  (the  Confederate 
envoy)  that  the  Confederacy  might  build  war-ships  in  France 
if  'built  as  for  the  Italian  government.'"  Life  of  Seward,  II, 
393, 394. 


182 


GRANT 


•  1 1 
It' 


J. 


I 


1. 1 


1 


After  Gettysburg  and  Vieksburg,  the 
South  ought  to  have  given  up  the  contest 
and  many  of  her  men  were  of  that  opinion. 
She  could  have  made  an  honorable  peace, 
coming  back  into  the  Union,  deprived  in- 
deed of  slavery  but  receiving  ccmpcnsation 
for  the  slaves  *  and  retaining  the  home  rule 
of  her  State  legislatures. 

The  North  had  developed  a  great  general 
in  Grant  who  was  ably  supported  by  Sher- 
man, Sheridan,  and  Thomas,  while  the 
South  had  suffered  the  irreparable  loss  of 
Stonewall  Jackson.  With  superior  re- 
sources, with  armies  larger  than  those  of  the 

•  On  Feb.  5,  1863,  sixty-three  days  before  Lee's  surrender, 
Lincoln  recommended  that  Congress  empower  the  President  to 
pay  to  the  eleven  States  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  then  in 
arras  against  the  Union,  and  to  the  five  slave  States,  remaining  in 
the  Union,  1400,000,000  in  six  per  cent  government  bonds  as  com- 
pensation for  their  slaves,  provided  that  all  resistance  to  the  na- 
tional authority  should  cease  on  April  1st.  One  half  should  then 
be  paid  and  the  other  half  when  the  Thirteenth  Amendment 
abolishing  slavery  should  become  valid  law.  The  Cabinet  disap- 
proved unanimously  of  the  President's  project  and  it  was  not  sub- 
mitted to  Congress.  V,  82.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  Congress 
would  have  passed  such  a  bill,  as  the  Southern  Confederacy  was 
then  tottering.  But  directly  after  (Jettysburg  and  Vieksburg,  the 
Cabinet  and  Congress  would  undoubtedly  have  been  glad  at  the 
cessati)n  of  ilie  war,  if  the  Union  could  have  been  restored  and 
slavery  abolished  on  the  basis  of  Lincoln's  offer. 


LINCOLN 


183 


South,  better  equipped  and  supplied  and  as 
well  disciplined;  with  generals  e(jual  in 
ability,  the  North  was  certain  to  win  in  the 
end,  provided  slie  would  with  persistency 
and  patience  make  the  necessary  sacrifice  of 
men  and  money.  Herein  Lincoln  showed 
his  power  for  it  was  he  who  held  the  North 
to  its  labors.  History  confirms  the  con- 
temporaneous impression  of  John  Hay  who 
at  twenty-five,  the  President's  private  sec- 
retary residing  in  the  Whice  House,  wrote 
of  Lincoln  in  his  affectionate  Western  man- 
"Thc  old  man  sits  here  and  wields 


ner 


like  a  backwoods  Jupiter  the  bolts  of  war 
and  the  machinery  of  government  with  a 
hand   equally   steady   and   equally   firm."* 


•  Private  letter  to  his  friend  and  associate,  Nicolay,  of  Sept.  11, 
1863.  On  Aug.  7,  Hay  wrote:  "The  Tycoon  [Lincoln]  is  in 
fine  whack.  He  is  managing  this  war,  the  draft,  foreign  relations, 
and  planning  a  reconstruction  of  the  union  all  at  once.  I  never 
knew  with  what  tyrannous  authority  he  rules  the  Cabinet  till  now. 
The  most  important  things  he  decides  and  there  is  no  cavil.  I  am 
growing  more  and  more  firmly  convinced  that  the  good  of  the 
cour '  ry  absolutely  demands  that  he  should  be  kept  where  he  is 
till  this  thing  is  over.  There  is  no  man  in  the  country  so  wise,  so 
gentle  and  so  firm.  I  believe  the  hand  of  God  placed  him  where 
he  is."     Letters  of  John  Hay,  I,  90,  102. 


it 


ill 

til'} 

;<■  ■ 
I 

.*« 


*    1  : 

i'., 


J. 


P:< 


(.1 


184 


LINCOLN 


Exercising  more  authority  than  any  Enghsh- 
man  since  Cromwell  ^  and  achieving  success 
sufficiently  noteworthy  to  overshadow  his 
many  mistakes,  the  President  had  gained 
the  support  not  only  of  the  plain  people  but 
also  of  the  business  men  and  of  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  independent  thought  of 
the  country.  He  now  received  in  striking 
unanimity,  the  approval  of  farmers,  small 
shop-keepers,  salesmen,  clerks,  mechanics, 
and  men  who  stood  intellectually  for  lofty 
aspirations.  "  History,"  wrote  Jam(  s  Rus- 
sell Lowell  in  1864,  "will  rank  Lincoln 
among  the  most  prudent  of  statesmen  and 
the  most  successful  of  rulers.  If  we  wish  to 
appreciate  him  we  have  only  to  conceive 
the  inevitable  chaos  in  which  we  should 
now  be  weltering  had  a  weak  man  or  an 
unwise  one  been  chosen  in  his  stead."  ^ 

*  James  Bryce's  opinion,  IV,  234. 

'  IV,  461.  The  development  of  faith  iu  Lincoln,  shown  in 
Charles  Eliot  Norton's  letters  to  George  W.  Curtis,  is  interesting. 
On  Aug.  2t,  IStJl,  he  wrote  :  "If  auotlier  reverse  [after  Bull  Run] 
were  to  come  and  they  [Cameron,  Welles,  Smith,  members  of 
Lincoln's  Cabinet]  still  there,  the  whole  Cabinet  would  have  to 
go;  —  and  then  let  Mr.  Lincoln  liiniwlf  look  out  for  a  Committee 


GRANT 


185 


The  brave  and  high-spirited  people  of  the 
South  were  still  determined  on  resistance ; 
so  the  war  went  on,  lasting  nearly  two 
years  after  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg. 

In  the  autumn  of  18G3  Grant  won  an- 
other important  victory  in  the  West.  The 
President,  Congress  and  the  people  were 
now  of  one  mind  regarding  the  great  com- 
mander and  the  President  placed  him  in 
command  of  the  armips  of  the  United  States. 

of  Safety."  Dec.  5,  1861:  "We  are  very  serious  over  the  Presi- 
dent's message.  We  think  it  very  poor  in  style,  manner  and 
thought  —  very  wanting  in  pith,  and  exhibiting  a  mournful  de- 
ficiency of  strong  feeling  and  wise  forecast  in  the  President." 
March  8,  1862:  "Lincoln's  style  is  worse  than  ever;  and  though 
a  bad  style  is  not  always  a  mark  of  bad  thought,  it  is  at  least  a 
proof  that  thought  is  not  as  clear  as  it  ought  to  be."  Nov.  12, 
1862  :  "  The  worst  of  the  ifs  is  the  one  concerning  Lincoln.  I  am 
very  much  afraid  that  a  domestic  cat  will  not  answer  when  one 
wants  a  Bengal  tiger."  Sept.  3,  1863:  Norton  spoke  of  "the  ex- 
traordinary excellence  of  the  President's  letter  [letter  of  Aug.  26. 
Complete  Works,  II,  397j.  He  rises  with  each  new  effort  and  his 
letters  are  successive  victories."  Dec.  10,  1863:  "Once  more  we 
may  rejoice  that  Abraham  Lincoln  is  President.  How  wise  and 
how  admirably  tuned  is  his  Proclamation  [of  Dec.  8, 1863  in  con- 
nection with  his  annual  message  of  the  same  date.  Complete 
Works,  II,  442].  As  a  state  paper  its  naivete  is  wonderful.  Lin- 
coln will  introduce  a  new  style  into  state  papers;  he  will  make 
them  sincere  and  his  honesty  will  compel  even  politicians  to  like 
virtue.  I  conceive  his  cliaracter  to  be  on  the  whole  the  great  net 
gain  from  the  war."    Ailautic  M^mthly,  November  1912,  603-612. 


i  i". 


I 


« I 


i;i 


4 


] 


186 


GRANT  — LEE 


Grant  saw   that   his   place   was  with   the 
Army  of  the   Potomac;    that  he  must  pit 
himself  against  the  redoubtable  Robert  E. 
Lee.     In  May  1864,  he  began  his  campaign 
by  hurling  his  troops  against  the  veterans 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.     After 
two  days  of  fighting,  in  which  he  had  the 
worse  of  the  encounter,  he  gave  the  order 
for  a  night  march.     His  army  aware  only 
of  a  great  slaughter  started  without  know- 
ing whether  it  had  been  beaten,  and  when 
the  parting  of  the  ways  was  reached,  the 
question  uppermost  in  all  minds  was,  Would 
the  orders  be  to  turn  northward  ?     But  the 
command.  File  right,  set   the   men's  faces 
towards  Richmond.     The  soldiers  sang  and 
stepped    forward    with   elastic    tread.     As 
Grant  rode  past  in  the  darkness  they  recog- 
nized  him   and   burst   into   cheers,   swunir 
their  hats,  clapped  their  hands  and  threw 
up  their  arms  greeting  their  general  as  a 
comrade  and  letting  hhn  witness  their  joy 
at  learning  tliat  he  was  leading  them  on- 
ward to  Richmond  instead  of  ordering  them 


LEE  — GRANT 


187 


to  fall  back  to  the  camp  which  they  had 
just  abandoned.^ 

Lee  found  in  Grant  a  very  different  antag- 
onist from  those  whom  he  had  co  easily  over- 
come. During  the  battle  of  the  second  day 
his  intense  anxiety  led  him  to  spur  forward 
his  horse  and  follow  a  Texas  brigade  that 
had  been  ordered  to  charge  home  the  enemy. 
He  was  recognized  and  from  the  entire  line 
came  the  cry  "  Go  back,  General  Lee !  go 
back!  "2 

For  five  and  forty  days  Grant  prosecuted 
his  campaign  of  attrition  and  his  loss  was 
enormous.  He  was  bitterly  disappointed 
at  the  result,  as  he  had  failed  to  crush  or 
capture  Lee's  army  whose  power  of  effective 
resistance  still  remained.  His  own  army 
was  shattered  and  worn  out ;  what  remained 
of  it  needed  rest.  To  those  soldiers  must 
have  occurred  the  thought  which  ran  so 
many  times  through  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac:  "It  is  no  use.  No  matter  who 
is   given   us,   we  can't  whip   Bobby  Lee." 

'IV,  440-448,  UV,  441. 


i-t  •  ■? 


:4, 


188 


GRANT'S  DISAPPOINTMENT 


tl 


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J 


P     ^ 


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i.      F    - 

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1;, 


reorganization    were 


Eeenforcements  and 
indispensable  preliminaries  to  any  fur- 
ther offensive  operations  on  a  large  scale. 
Grant  did  not  assume  a  vigorous  offensive 
from  June  18,  1864  until  the  spring  of  1865.^ 
But  his  strong  will  and  native  hardihood 
overcame  his  first  disappointment  whilst  a 
stoUd  countenance  masked  any  apprehension 
he  may  have  had  for  the  future.  At  the 
end  of  this  campaign  he  transferred  his  army 
to  a  point  south  of  Richmond,^  uncovering 
Washington,  which  the  Confederates  threat- 
ened and  might  have  entered,  but  for  the 
procrastination  of  Early,  the  general  in 
command. 

In  July  and  August  1864  the  North 
passed  through  its  final  period  of  dejection 
and  misgiving.^  Lincoln,  standing  for 
reelection  feared  defeat  as  a  consequence  of 
th'     ^'ailure   of  Grant's   campaign.     But   a 

»IV,  440,488. 

'  This  movement,  which  began  June  12, 1864  and  ended  June  16, 
was  very  successfully  accomplished.     IV,  488. 

'Welles  made  this  entry  Aug.  17,  "I  am  sadly  oppressed  with 
the  aspect  of  things."     Diary,  U,  10"J. 


FARRAGUT  —  SHERMAN 


189 


change  of  fortune  was  at  hand.  Farragut 
defeated  the  Confederate  fleet  and  became 
master  of  Mobile  Bay,  closhig  an  important 
port  available  for  blockade  running.  Here 
was  another  link  completed  in  the  chain 
that  the  navy  had  been  steadily  forging  to 
obstruct  the  intercourse  of  the  Confederacy 
with  the  outside  maritime  world.  Sherman, 
after  a  four  months'  campaign,  in  which  he 
had  fought  his  way  south  inch  by  inch,  took 
Atlanta.^  If  Lincoln's  reelection  had  ever 
been  doubtful,  these  and  other  victories 
made  it  certain.  In  November  he  was 
chosen  triumphantly  for  a  second  presiden- 
tial term;  by  their  votes  the  Northern  people 
declared  that  the  war  must  be  prosecuted 
until  slavery  was  destroyed  and  the  Union 
restored ;  and  that,  to  use  Lincoln's  humor- 
ous illustration,  "  they  concluded  that  it  is 
not  best  to  swop  horses  wliilo  crossing  the 


1 IV,  523,  524.  Charles  Eliot  Xorton  wrote  to  George  W.  Curtis 
under  date  of  Sept.  6,  1801 :  "  And  now  let  us  rcjuice  together  over 
the  great  good  news.  It  lifts  the  cloud  and  the  prospect  clears. 
We  really  see  now  the  beginning  of  the  end."  Atlantic  Monthly, 
November  1912,  613. 


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190 


LEE  — GRANT 


stream."  *  Before  the  end  of  the  year,  Sher- 
man cut  the  Southern  Confederacy  in  twain 
by  his  famous  march  to  the  sea,  presenting 
the  city  of  Savannah  to  Lincoln  as  a  Christ- 
mas gift.^ 

On  March  29,  1865,  Grant  began  hi«  final 
movement  against  Lee's  army.  He  com- 
pelled the  evacuation  of  Richmond  and, 
following  in  eager  pursuit  these  veterans, 
led  by  their  great  and  beloved  general, 
hemmed  them  in  and  forced  their  surrender 
at  Appomattox.  In  the  history  of  most 
nations,  isolated  events  are  to  be  found 
which  reveal  the  principal  actors  rising  sud- 
denly above  the  common  clay  to  assume 
heroic  size  and  a  sublime  demeanor.  Such 
an  event  was  the  meeting  between  Lee  and 
Grant.     The  one  was  grieved  to  the  heart ; 

'Lincoln,  Complete  Works,  II,  532,  has  "river"  but  a  West- 
erner would  surely  have  said,  stream.  Appleton's  Ann.  Cyc,  1864, 
p.  789  has  it,  "  I  am  reminded  ...  of  a  story  of  an  old  Dutcii 
farmer,  who  remarked  to  a  companion  once  that  'it  was  not  best  to 
swop  horses  when  crossing  streams.'  "  Samuel  R.  Gardiner  quotes 
it  "  it  is  not  well  to  swop  horses  in  the  middle  of  a  stream."  Crom- 
well's Place  in  History,  48.  My  own  recollection  of  the  saying  is, 
"  it  is  not  well  to  swop  horses  while  crossing  a  stream." 

'■'JV,  538;  V,  2a, 


■i  I 


GRANT — LEE  -  SHERMAN 


191 


the  other  showed  no  exultation.  As  Grant 
wrote  twenty  years  later  when  his  own 
death  was  near,  "  I  felt  like  anything  rather 
than  rejoicing  at  the  downfall  of  a  foe  who 
had  fought  so  long  and  valiantly."  Grant 
was  magnanimous,  Lee  was  appreciative. 
Generous  terms  were  offered  and  accepted. 
When  the  Union  soldiers  heard  of  the  sur- 
render they  began  firing  salutes.  Grant 
ordered  them  stopped,  saying,  "The  war 
is  over;  the  rebels  are  our  countrymen 
again."  ^ 

Meanwhile  Sherman  had  marched  north- 
ward from  Savannah  through  the  Confed- 
eracy and,  coming  up  with  Johnston 
commanding  the  other  great  Southern 
army,  compelled  his  surrender.  This  ended 
the  war.^ 

Between  the  surrender  of  Lee  and  the 
surrender  of  Johnston,  our  country  suffered 
the  greatest  disaster  in  its  history.  Lincoln 
was  assassinated.  Of  this  cruel  blow  Walt 
Whitman  sang. 


^  V,  129  et  ante. 


*  V,  166. 


192 


ASSASSINATION  OF  LINCOLN 


I,' 


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If' 


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"Our  fearful  trip  is  done, 
The  ship  has  weathered  every  rack,  the  prize  we  sought 

is  won, 
But  our  Captain  lies  fallen  cold  and  dead."* 

Althoiip;li  exasperated  by  the  assassina- 
tion of  Lincoln  the  North  was  at  the  same 

»V,  140.     Whitman  added : 
"O  Captain!  my  Captain!  rise  up  and  hear  the  bells; 
Rise  up—  for  you  the  Hag  is  Hung  —  for  yon  the  bugle  trills, 
For  you  bouquets  and  ribbon'd  wreaths — for  you  the  shores  a-crowding, 
For  you  they  call,  the  swaying  mass,  their  eager  faces  turning.'* 

Lkatbs  of  Gbau. 
Tom  Taylor  wrote  In  Punch: 

"  You  lay  a  wreath  on  murdered  Lincoln's  bier, 
Tou,  who  with  mocking  pencil  wont  to  trace, 
Broad  for  the  self-complacent  British  sneer, 
His  length  of  shambling  limb,  his  furrowed  face, 
•  •••••• 

Beside  this  corpse,  that  bears  for  winding-sheet 
The  Stars  and  Stripes  he  lived  to  rear  anew, 

Between  the  mourners  at  his  head  and  feet, 
Say,  scurril  jester,  is  there  room  for  youf 

Yes,  he  had  lived  to  shame  me  from  my  sneer-* 
To  lame  my  pencil,  and  confute  my  pen  — 

To  miike  me  own  this  hind  of  princes  peer, 
This  rail-splitter  a  true-born  king  of  men." 
Punch,  May  6,  18»i5.    See  Uiyard,  Shirley  Brooks  of  Punch,  245. 

The  assassination  of  Lincoln  took  place  on  April  14,  1865. 
Under  date  of  April  29,  John  Bright  wrote  to  Sumner:  "For 
fifty  years  I  think  no  other  event  has  created  such  a  sensation  in 
this  country  as  tlie  great  crime  which  has  robbed  you  of  your  Pres- 
ident. Tlie  whole  jieople  po.sitively  mourn  and  it  would  seem  as  if 
again  we  were  one  nation  with  you,  so  universal  the  grief  and  the 

horror  at  the  deed  of  which  Washington  has  been  the  scene." 

Tierce's  Sumner,  IV,  240. 


'    ? 


ri'. 


ROBERT  E.   LEE 


193 


time  inspired  by  the  grandeur  of  Grant's  con- 
duct at  Appomattox.  Nobody  was  hanged 
for  a  political  crime,  no  land  of  the  van- 
quished Confederates  confiscated.^ 

Our  civil  war  lasted  four  years.  And  a 
question  often  asked  is,  How  was  the  South 
able  to  resist  so  long?  No  student  of  the 
subject  will  be  inclined  to  refer  their  power 
of  protracted  resistance  to  a  single  cause ; 
nevertheless  any  one  who  may  live  the  time 
over  again  will  find  it  difficult  to  escape  the 
conviction  that  the  paramount  factor  was 
Robert  E.  Lee.^  His  ability  and  character 
made  him  the  head  and  center  of  the  South- 
em  cause.  When  a  Southerner  had  con- 
scientious misgivings,  he  was  reassured  by 
the  reflection  that  any  cause  winning  the 
devotion  of  Lee  must  be  just  and  holy; 
when  he  doubted  if  ultimate  success  were 

* "  Since  their  (the  Americans')  most  noble  closing  of  the  Civil 
War,  I  have  looked  to  them  as  the  hope  of  our  civilization."  — 
George  Meredith  to  W.  M.  Fullerton,  Xov.  15,  1886.  Scribners 
Magazine,  Sept.,  1912,  286. 

"  Under  date  of  May  16,  186.'i  John  Bright  wrote  to  Sumner 
"  For  the  last  two  years  I.ee  has  bccu  the  soul  of  the  whole  rebel 
military  action."— Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proceedings,  XL VI,  139. 
o 


194 


ROBERT  E.   LEE 


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possible  he  remembered  that  Lee  was  lead- 
ing and  Lee  could  not  fail.  Doubt  and 
despair  were  always  removed  until  at  Ap- 
pomattox they  penetrated  the  soul  of  Lee 
himself,  when  he  said,  "  There  is  nothing 
left  me  but  to  go  and  see  General  Grant 
and  I  would  rather  die  a  thousand  deaths."  ^ 
After  the  surrender,'^  Lee  said  to  his  soldiers 
in  a  suppressed  and  tremulous  voice,  "  We 
have  fought  through  the  war  together.  I 
have  done  the  best  I  could  for  you.  My 
heart  is  too  full  to  say  more."  ^ 

Another  and  more  frequently  recurring 
question  is,  How  was  the  North  able  to 
overcome  the  South  ?  The  opinion  of  an 
intelligent  foreign  country  often  foreshadows 
the  issue  of  civil  strife.  Yet  in  England 
friend,  foe  and  neutral  alike  believed  that 
the  South  was  not  to  be  subdued.  At  the 
North  as  at  the  South  one  man  was  the  pre- 
dominant factor  in  the  war.  It  is  true  that 
some  find  the  determining  element  of  victory 
in  Grant  and  Sherman  who  prevailed  over 


>  V,  125. 


■  April  9,  18C5. 


V,  129. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


195 


Lee  and  Johnston  ;  others   find  it  in   the 
blockade.     Yet  the  affair  of  supreme  diffi- 
culty was  to  get  troops  for  Grant  and  Sher- 
man,  ships   and   sailors  for  the   blockade. 
When  a  democracy  goes  to  war  men  and 
money  are  forthcoming  only  by  voluntary 
effort ;  if  the  people  lack  confidence  in  the 
leader    their   effort    is   likely   to   come  to 
naught.     Lincoln  possessed  this  confidence. 
He  was  able  to  give  his  generals  the  sup- 
port they  required  as  well  as  to  supply  the 
means  for  the  blockade;  he  was  urn   -"stion- 
ably  the  one  man  that  the  North  c.   Jd  not 
spare.* 

>  "  The  best  aspect  of  an  ago  of  controversy  must  be  sought  in 
the  lives  of  the  b«'st  men,  whose  honesty  carries  conviction  to  the 
understanding,  whilst  their  zeal  kindles  the  zeal  of  the  many.  A 
study  of  the  lives  of  such  men  will  lead  to  the  conclusion  that,  in 
spite  of  internecine  hostility  in  act,  the  real  and  true  leaders  had 
far  more  in  common  than  they  knew  of."  Stubbs,  Constitutional 
History  of  England,  III,  639. 


.1  ! 


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JM 


Pli 

I*.  I 


I    I 


I    i 


INDEX 


Aboutionists,  influenoe,  13. 
Adams,  C.  P.,  on  Kriovanreii  of 
South,    80;     on    autislavery 
in    Enifland,    17fi;    and   ox- 
ptfted   British   intprvention, 
173;    on    rnsponsibility    for 
Alabama  depredations,  179; 
faultless  coune  as  minister, 
18(). 
Alabama,  buiidinf;  and  escape, 

169;  deprwlations,  179. 
Alabama,  secession,  77. 
AlfTan  '■■     - 'izod,  179. 
Anieriean      vil  War,  slavery  as 
cause,  1-7,  76,  80,  1.36,  153; 
and    tariff   questio..,    3,    82, 
1 '>4 ;  secession  of  South  (Caro- 
lina,    a'>-«)8;      attempts    at 
compromise,   68-76;     n^ason 
for  inevitablen«'ss,  76 ;    prog- 
ress and  popularity  of  seces- 
sion, its  constitutional  basis, 
77-80 ;       political     inexpedi- 
ency   of    secession,    80,    87; 
formation    of    Confederacy, 
81-84,110;  choice  of  North, 
piaceable  separation  or  war, 
87-89;     Lincoln's    policy    to 
hold     Southern     posts,     89; 
outbreak,     attack    on     Fort 
Sumter,    90;     Southern    ag- 
RTession,  91  ;    call  for  militia, 
uprising  of   the   North,   91- 
93;      Southern     enthusiasm, 
93 ;    sectional  advantages  and 
disadvantages,  9->-99,  lur,,,.; 
Lincoln's  conception  of  task, 
99-101  ;     Lt>o  as   paramount 
Southern  factor,  101-104, 193  ; 
first     Bull     Run,      105-107; 


McClellan     as     commander, 
107-10«);  Fort  Donelson,  109, 
110;     naval  operations.  111, 
112.  189;   Shiloh.  112;    Pen- 
insular campaign,    113-117; 
pi'riods  of  Northern  despond- 
ency.   116,     118;,.,   140,   188; 
Lincoln's    perseverance    and 
power,    IHi,    142,    183.    184; 
second  Bull   Run,   117,    118; 
Antietam,   119-121;    slavery 
and     emancipation     during, 
121-138.     182;      Fredericks- 
burg, 138,  139,142;   attitude 
of  \apoIcon,  141,  171,  181; 
ruancdiorsville.        143-145 ; 
Oettysburg,  145-148;  Vicks- 
burg,    148-151;     Gettysburg 
and   V'icksburg    as   decisive, 
151.   181  ;    British  lelations. 
151-181 ;       development     of 
Union    generals,    182;     out- 
come dependent  on  Northern 
persistence,     Lincoln's     con- 
trol. 183 ;    Grant  General-in- 
Chief.    185:     Virginia    cam- 
paign of  18G4,    186-188;  ro- 
el(>.  ii(m  of  Lincoln,  1S8-1'K); 
Sherman's    campaigns,    189- 
191  ;     Richmond     and      Ap- 
pomattox. 190;    no   proscrip- 
tions,   193;    Lincoln  as   nec- 
essary   factor     in    Northern 
suc<'('ss,  194. 
Antiefam  campaign,    119-121; 
and     Emancipation     Procla- 
mation, 127.  138. 
Appomattox    campaign,    great- 
ness   of     Grant     and     Lee, 
190. 


197 


m 

1 "      K 


7 


198 


INDEX 


''    ?    * 


h 


Argyll,  Duke  of,  sympathy  for 
the  North,  1.55. 

Army,  Confederate,  conscrip- 
tion, 110. 

Army,  Union,  first  calls,  01, 
100«.;  regulars.  97,  lOOn. ; 
character  of  soldiers,  lOS, 
113;  call  of  1862,  11(>; 
negro  troops,  136;  conscrip- 
tion. 142. 

Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 
See  Lee. 

Army  of  the  Potomac,  Mc- 
Clellan's  organization  and 
leadership,  107,  113;  Penin- 
sular campaign,  114-116; 
popularity  of  McClellan,  1 1!>; 
Antietam,  1 19-121 ;  Mc- 
Clellan removed,  138;  Burn- 
side  and  Fredericksburg,  139, 
140,  142;  Hooker  and  Chan- 
cellorsville,  143-14.5;  Meade 
and  Gettysburg,  145-148 ; 
Grant  and  Virginia  cam- 
paign of  1H04,  186-188;  \i>- 
pomattox,  190. 

Atlanta  campaign,  189. 

Bancroft,  Frederic,  on   South 

and  cotton,  l.V2«. ;  on  B]uro- 

pean    attitude    during    war, 

181 «. 
Beecher,    H.    W.,     J'Bcecher's 

hihhs."  .34. 
"Beecher's  bibles,"  34. 
Belligerency,       recognition     of 

Confederate,  1.52,  1.53. 
Benjamin,    J.    P.,     on    British 

attitude,  ISl. 
Blair,  Montgomery,   and  Trinl 

affair,  163. 
Blockade,  152.  189.  195. 
Border  States,  and  secession.  i>5 ; 

reject    gradual    compensattul 

emancipation,  122-125.  1.34h. 
Bright,    John,     sympathy     for 

the  North,  155 ;   on  Lincoln, 


178n. ;  on  as.sassination  of 
Lincoln,  192n. ;  on  Lee,  193n. 

Brooks,  Preston,  assault  on 
Sumner,  37. 

Brown,  John,  in  Kansas,  Pot- 
tawatomie massacre.  35 ;  Har- 
per's Ferry  raid.  56-59. 

Browning,  Robert,  on  possible 
war  with  North,  167n. 

Buchanan,  James,  election  as 
President,  39,  40;  and 
Lecompton  Constitution,  44. 

Buford's  battalion  in  Kansas, 
33. 

Bull  Run,  first  campaign,  105, 
10() ;  effect  on  sections,  106 ; 
second  campaign.  1 18 ;  W.  H. 
Russell's  account  of  first,  159. 

Burnside,  A.  E..  commands 
army.  Fredericksburg,  139, 
140,  142;  relieved,  143. 

Butler,  A.  P.,  Sumner's  at- 
tack on,  36. 

Cairxes,  J.  E.,  on  slavery  and 
Civil  War.  2. 

Calhoun,  J.  (\,  on  slavery  in 
territories.  7;  doctrines  and 
secession,  78. 

California,  free  territory  under 
Mexit!an  law,  7  ;  character  of 
settlers,  8;  fre<>-state  Con- 
stitution, 9;  admission  and 
sectional  equilibrium  in  Sen- 
ate, 1 1 ;  admission  as  free 
State.  16. 

Carlyle.  Thomas,  on  battles. 
104  ;  on  Frederick's  study  of 
opponent,  117. 

Carolina  campaign  of  Sherman, 
191. 

Ci.ancellorsville,  battle,  144. 

Chase.  W.  P..  on  passaga  of 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  26 ; 
on  Fort  Donelson.  109;  on 
Emancipation  Proclamation, 
128«. 


h^l 


INDEX 


199 


Civil  War.  See  American  Civil 

War. 
Clay,   Henry,   Compromise  of 

1850,  16. 
Cobden,  Richard,  sympathy  for 
the  North,  155 ;   on  belief  in 
Southern  success,  170. 
Cockburn,  Alexander,  on  Ala- 
bama, 170. 
Collier,  Sir  Robert,  on  building 

of  Alabama,  109. 
Compromise,  attempts  in  18G0- 
1861,  Senate  committee,  69; 
Crittenden,     70;      Northern 
pressure,  71 ;    Lincoln's  atti- 
tude,72-74 ;  failure  of  Senate 
committee,  74  ;  popular  vote 
on,    suggested,    75;     Peace 
Congress,  75. 
Compromise   of    IS.'K),   causes, 
7-16;    Southern  throats,  )6; 
provisions,  16-18;  fairness,  21. 
Confederate  States,  formation. 
Constitution,  81-83 ;  slavery 
as  corner-stone,  84-87 ;  capi- 
tal, 95 ;  permanent  organiza- 
tion, 110;  conscription,  110; 
England     and     recognition. 
170-174,  181. 
Congress,  Compromise  of  1850, 
16-18,  21 ;   Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill,    23-26;     and    Kansas, 
38,  44;     complexion  (1855), 
30 ;  (1857),  40 ;  Brooks's  at- 
tack on  Sumner,  36 ;   Speaker 
contest      (1859),     59;       ex- 
citement    and     altercations, 
60;   attempts  at  compromise 
(1860-1861),  68-76;   amend- 
ment to  guarantee  slavery  in 
states,  88 ;  legalizes  Lineciln's 
arbitrary    measures,    lOOn. ; 
abolishes    slavery    in    terri- 
tories and  District  of  Colum- 
bia, 122;    and  gradual  com- 
pensated emancipation,  123, 
138;  and  Lincoln,  141. 


Conscription,  in  Confederate 
army,  110;  in  Union  army. 
142.  ' 

Cotton,  cotton  gin  and  growth 
of  slavery  sentiment,  12 ;  as 
expected  factor  in  recogni- 
tion of  Confederacy,  152; 
England  and  famine,  155. 

Crittenden,  J.  J.,  and  com- 
promise, 70,  75. 

Crittenden  Compromise,  70. 

Cuba,  desire  of  South  to  annex, 

Curtin,  A.  O.,  and  Leo's  inva- 
sion, 146«. 


Dahwin,  Charles,  on  Peninsu- 
lar campaign,  116;  sym- 
pathy for  the  North,  154 ;  on 
Trent  affair,  168. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  demands  pro- 
tection of  slavery  in  terri- 
tories, ,')5:  threatens  seces- 
sion (1860),  61  ;  and  com- 
promise, 69,  70;  deprecates 
secession  movement,  81 ; 
elected  President  of  Confed- 
eracy, 81 ;  and  attack  on 
Sumter,  91 ;  military  train- 
ing, 101 ;  inaugurated  Presi- 
dent, 110;  and  Vicksburg, 
151.  •*' 

Delane,  J.  T..  sympathy  for 
the  South,  157,  160,  167. 

Democratic  party,  election  of 
1854,  30 ;  of  1856, 38-40 ;  con- 
ventions and  split  (1860),  61. 

Dc  Quincey,  Thomas,  on  Cali- 
fornia, 9. 

Dicey,  Edward,  on  Union  army, 
113.  ^ 

District  of  Columbia,  slavery 
abolished,  122. 

Donelson,  Fort,  capture,  popu- 
lar effect,  109,  110. 

Douglas,  S.  A.,  character,  22; 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  23-26 ; 


'•i 


i 


v, 

m 


i) 


i 


J 


^ ;  - 


1  i' 


■' 

1 

■1. 

!■  . 


200 


INDEX 


Northern  condemnation,  26 ; 
effect  of  bill  on  career, 
27 ;  denounces  Lecompton 
scheme,  44;  restored  popu- 
larity, 45,  ol ;  and  Re- 
publicans 0*58),  46;  can- 
didacy for  reelection  to  Sen- 
ate, reply  to  Lincoln's  key- 
note speech,  50;  as  speaker, 
51,  52;  joint  debates  with 
Lincoln,  52-55;  nomination 
for  President,  61 ;  and  com- 
promise (1801),  69,  70,  75. 
Dred  Scott  opinion,  41-43. 

Early,  J.  A.,  raid  on  Washing- 
ton, 188. 

Elections  (1854),  30;  (1856), 
38-40;  (1860),61-<)4;  (1862), 
131 ;    (1864),  188-190. 

Emancipation,  abolition  of 
slavery  in  territories  and 
District  of  Columbia,  122; 
offer  of  gradual  compensated, 
to  border  States,  rejected, 
122-125;  development  and 
issue  of  preliminary  Procla^ 
mation,  125-128;  reception, 
final  Proclamation,  128ri., 
131-133;  Lincoln  on  con- 
stitutional question  of  the 
Proclamation,  133«.-135n. ; 
slaves  and  Proclamation, 
134-136 ;  Lincoln's  policy 
of  gradual  compensated,  for 
whole  South,  136-138,  182n. ; 
receptior  of  Proclamation  in 
England,  175. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  on  John 
Brown,  .58;  on  uprising  of 
the  North,  93. 

Emigrant  Aid  Company  in 
Kansas,  32. 

Fair  Oaks,  battle,  115. 
Farragut,  D.  O.,  New  Orleans, 
112;  Mobile  Bay,  189. 


Florida,  English  built  Confeder- 
ate cruiser,  169. 
Forster,  W.  E.,  on  slavery  and 

Civil  War,  3;   sympathy  for 

the  North,  155. 
France.     See  Napoleon. 
Frederick  the  Great,  study  of 

adversary,  117. 
Fredericksburg,  battle,  139, 140, 

142;    effect  on   the  North, 

140. 
Free-Soil  party,  27. 
Fremont,  J.  C.,  candidacy  for 

President,  89. 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  of  1850, 17 ; 

purpose,  18 ;  result  on  South, 

19. 

Gardiner,  S.  R.,  on  inevitable- 
ness  of  English  Civil  War,  76. 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  antislavery 
crusade,  its  effect,  13. 

Georg:ia,  secession,  77. 

Gettysburg  campaign,  145- 
148;  as  decisive  event,  151, 
181. 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  speech  on 
Confederacy,  172. 

Grady,  Henry,  on  slaves  during 
Civil  War,  135n. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  Donelson,  "Un- 
conditional Surrender,"  109; 
Shiloh,  question  of  intemper- 
ance, 112;  Lincoln's  faith  in, 
113;  Vicksburg,  148-151; 
General-in-Chief,  185;  Vir- 
ginia campaign,  186-188 ; 
Richmond  and  Appomattox, 
greatness  at  surrender  of 
Lee,  190. 

Gray,   Asa,  on  Lincoln,    178  n. 

Great  Britain  and  Morrill  tar- 
iff, 82,  154;  and  cotton,  152, 
l.'SS ;  proclamation  of  neutral- 
ity, 152 ;  recognition  of  slav- 
ery as  issue  of  war,  153 ; 
Southern  sympathy  of  upper 


INDEX 


201 


classes,  154 ;  belief  in  success 
of  South,  155,  170 ;    blunder 
of  North  in  ostracising  W.  H 
Russell,  157-161 ;    Trent  af- 
fair, 161-168;    building  and 
escape  of  Alabama,  169,  179 ; 
policy  of  intervention  (1862)' 
abrupt  change,  171-175;  and 
Emancipation  Proclamation, 
175;     opinion    of    Lincoln, 
176,    178n. ;    construction  of 
Confederate  rams,  179,  ISO; 
Adams  as  minister  to,  180; 
as  obstacle  to  European  rec- 
ognition of  Confederacy,  181. 
Greeley,  Horace,  influence,  30; 
and     Douglas     (1858),     4G; 
and  secession,  87;    "Prayer 
of   Twenty   Millions,"    12fi; 
favors  foreign  mediation, 140. 
Grow,  Galusha,  on  excitement 
in  Congress  (1859),  61. 


Seven  Days',  115;  second 
Bull  Run,  118;  Chancellors- 
viUe,  death,  145;  loss  to 
Confederate  army,  182. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  on  Missouri 
controversy,  22. 

Johnston,  J.  E.,  Peninsular 
campaign,  114,  115;  sur- 
renders to  Sherman,  191. 


Halleck,  H.  W.,  as  General-in- 
Chief,  117. 

Hartington,  Marquis  of,  on  Lin- 
coln, 176. 

Hay,  John,  on  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  l2Hn. ;  on  Lin- 
coln's supremo  control,  183. 

Holmes,  O.  W.,  on  Mill's 
article  on  Civil  War,  2n. ;  on 
capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  1 10. 

Hooker,  Joseph,  mistaken  ap- 
pointment to  command  army, 
143 ;  Chaneellorsville,  144  [ 
relieved,  146. 

HoweUs,   W.   D.,  on  Artemus 

Ward,  129. 
Hughes,  T.  E.,  sympathy  for 

the  North,  155. 
Hugo,  Victor,  on  John  Brown, 
58. 

Jackson,  T.  J.,  at  first  Bull 
Run.  "Stonewall."  105; 
VaUey    campaign,    114;     in 


Kansas,    act    to    organize    as 
territory      under       popular 
sovereignty,       23-26 ;       ex- 
pected to  be  a  slave  state, 
31 ;  free-state  and  proslavery 
immigration,     31-34 ;      pro- 
slavery  and  free-state  organ- 
izations, 32;     civil  war,  35; 
Congress  and,  38;    Lecomp- 
ton   Constitution   and    Eng- 
lish    Bill,     43-45;      rejects 
Ei     .„ii  Bill  and  slavery,  45. 
ivans      ^'^ebraska   Bill,    repeal 
of       ^souri  Compromise,  23 ; 
attiiude     of     Douglas,     24; 
popular      sovereignty,      25 ; 
passage,  25;    Northern  con- 
demnation, 26,  30;   as  issue 
in     election    of     1854,     30; 
Southern    support,    31 ;     re- 
sulting war  in  Kansas,  31-36, 
43-45. 
Kentucky,  does  not  secede,  95. 
Know-nothing   movement,   29. 

i^EcoMPTON  Constitution,  43- 
45. 

Lee,  R.  E.,  and  John  Brown's 
raid,  57 ;  on  forcible  preserva- 
tion of  union,  88;  declines 
Union  command,  joins  Con- 
federacy, 101-103;  charac- 
ter, 103 ;  commands  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  Seven 
Days' campaign,  115;  unhin- 
dered command,  117;  study 
of  adversaries.  117;    second 


,i . 


II 


B>^ 


:     i 


^  ;.  li      I 


,? 


'i 


i  i 


;    ' 


if' 


202 


INDEX 


Bull   Run,   118;    Antietam, 
119-121;       on      McClellan, 
139n. ;    Fredericksburg,  139; 
Chancellors  ville,  144 ;  Gettys- 
burg    campaign,      145-148 ; 
overconfidence,  146 ;  Virginia 
campaign  of   1864,  186-188 ; 
affection    of    soldiers,    187; 
Richmond     and     Appomat- 
tox, greatness  at  suiTender, 
190;     as   paramount   factor 
on  Southern  side,  193. 
Lewis,  Sir  G.  C,  and  media- 
tion, 174. 
Lincoln,    Abraham,    on    Dred 
Scott  decision,  42;    training 
and  character,  46-49;    can- 
didacy   for    Senate    (1858), 
house  -  divided  -  against  -  itself 
speech,  49-51 ;  joint  debates 
with  Douglas,  52-55;     and 
speaker,  53;    elected  Presi- 
dent, 63,  64;   and  efforts  at 
compromise,  72-74;   on  geo- 
graphical union,  88 ;  on  forci- 
ble preservation    of   Union, 
88;    inauguration,  intention 
to  hold  Southern  posts,  89; 
and  Fort  Sumter,  91;    call 
for  militia,  91 ;    and  border 
States,  95 ;   as  chief  asset  of 
the    North,    99,    194;     and 
public  opinion,  99 ;  arbitrary 
acts,   100;    power  and  per- 
severance  in   the  war,  100, 
116,  142,  183,  184;    lack  of 
military  training,  101 ;  offers 
command  to  Lee,  101 ;    and 
McClellan's  inactivity,  107; 
and  Grant,   113;    and  Mc- 
Clellan and  Peninsular  cam- 
paign, 113-116;  public  faith 
in,  117,  131,  138,  142,  177. 
i«?4;    and    McClellan    after 
second  Bull  Run,  119 ;  study 
of  public  opinion  on  slavery, 
121 ;  policy  of  gradual  com- 


pensated emancipation,  123- 
125,  136-138,  182n.;  de- 
velopment and  issue  of  pre- 
liminary Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation, 125-128;  reply  to 
Greeley's  "Prayer,"  126;  de- 
light in  Artemus  Ward,  127, 
129 ;  adheres  to  emancipation 
policy,  final  Proclamation, 
132 ;  on  constitutional  ques- 
tion in  Proclamation,  133n.- 
135n. ;  removes  McClellan, 
138;  appointment  of  Biu^- 
side,  139,  141 ;  and  Congress 
after  Fredericksburg,  141 ; 
appointment  of  Hooker,  143 ; 
appointment  of  Meade,  146; 
W.  H.  Russell's  opinion,160; 
and  Russell.  161 ;  a.  Trent 
affair.  163.  168 ;  British  opin- 
ion, 175-177,  178n. ;  reelec- 
tion, 188-190;  assassination, 
191 ;  Whitman,  Punch  and 
Bright  on  assassination,  192n. 
London  Daily  News,  sympathy 

for  the  North,  161. 
London  Times,  belief  in  South- 
ern success,  156;    influence, 
157;     Russell   as    American 
correspondent,  157-161 ;  and 
Trent  affair,  167. 
Louisiana,  secession,  77. 
Lowell,  J.  R.,  on  Peace  Con- 
gress, 75 ;  on  JlcClellan,  108 ; 
on  failure  of  Peninsular  cam- 
paign,   116;     on    effect    of 
Trent  affair,  168,  on  Lincoln, 
184. 
Lyons,  Lord,  and  Trent  affair, 
166. 

Macaulat,    Lord,    on    Uncle 

Tom's  Cabin,  19. 
McClellan,   G.   B.,  commands 

Union    army,    as   organizer, 

107;     inactivity,    108,    113; 

Peninsular    campaign,    114- 


^>       >    i 


INDEX 


203 


116;  troops  withdrawn,  117 ; 
restored  to  command,  popu- 
larity in  army,  118;  Antie- 
tam  eampa'gn,  neglected  op- 
portunity, 119-121  ;  removed, 
138. 

Madison,  Janies,  on  slavery,  6. 

March  to  the  sea,  100. 

Maryland,  does  not  secede,  95. 

Mason,  J.  M..  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  17,  18;  Trent  affair, 
162-166. 

Meade,  G.  O.,  commands  army, 
Gettysburg,  146-148. 

Mediation,  Napoleon's  policy, 
141,  171;  British  policy 
(1862),  abrupt  change,  171- 
175;  England  as  obstacle  to 
European  offer,  181. 

Meredith,  George,  on  closing  of 
Civil  War.  193n. 

M err imac- Monitor  fight,  111. 

Mexican  War,  as  Southern 
war,  11. 

Mill,  J.  S.,  on  Civil  War,  2. 

Missouri,  and  slavery  in  Kansas, 
31,  32;    does  not  secede,  95. 

Missouri  Compromise,  21 ;  re- 
peal, 23,  24;  Northern  con- 
demnation of  repeal,  26,  28, 
30;  declared  void  by  Su- 
preme Court,  42;  suggested 
restoration,  71,  74. 

Mobile  Bay,  battle,  ISO. 

Mommsen,  Theodor,  ou  slavery 
in  Rome,  6,  86. 

MonitoT-Merrimac&ght,  111. 

Napoleon  III,  and  Civil  War, 
141,  171,  181. 

Nationalism  ab  issue  in  Civil 
War,  5. 

Navy,  Kerrimac-MovAtor  duel, 
111;  capture  of  New  Orleans, 
112;  Confederate  English- 
built  vessels,  169,  179;  battle 
of  Mobile  Bay,  189. 


Nebraska,  expected  freenitate 
organization,  31. 

Neutrality.  British  proclama- 
tion, 152;  Trent  affair  as 
violation  of  right,  161-168; 
building  of  Confederate  ves- 
sels as  violation  of  duty,  169, 
179. 

Now  Mexico,  free  territory 
under  Me.xican  law,  7 ;  Com- 
promise of  1850,  16. 

New  Orleans,  capture.  111. 

New  York  Tribune,  poUtical 
influence,  30. 

Norton,  C.  E.,  disheartened 
(1862),  118n. ;  on  possible 
war  with  England,  167n. ; 
development  of  faith  in  Lin- 
coln, 184rj. ;  on  capture  of 
Atlanta,  189n. 

Nullification  movement,  3. 

Palmerston,  Lord,  on  issues 
of  Civil  War,  154 ;  belief  in 
Southern  success,  156;  and 
mediation,  171.  172,  174. 

Peace  Congress,  75. 

Peninsular  campaign,  113-116; 
effect  on  the  North,  116; 
v-ithdrawal   of   troops,    117. 

Pickett,  G.  E.,  charge  at  Gettys- 
burg, 147. 

Pittsburg  Landing,  battle,  112. 

Pope,  John,  command,  117; 
second  Bull  Run  campaign, 
118. 

Popular  sovereignty,  doctrine, 
25. 

Population,  greater  increase  in 
North,  10;  of  North  and 
South  (1860),  95. 

Pottawatomie  massacre,  35. 

Punch,  on  Lincoln,  192n. 

Rkconstruction,  probable  ef- 
fect of  Lincoln's  gradual 
emancipation  policy,  137. 


204 


INDEX 


i,i;* 


>  i  a 


!  1 


Republican  party,  formation, 
27-29;  in  election  of  1856, 
platform,  39;  and  Dred 
Scott  opinion,  42;  and 
Douglas  (1858),  46;  in  elec- 
tion of  1860,  62;  and  com- 
promise, 72-74 ;  inability  of, 
to  injure  South,  80;  logical 
development  of  antislavery 
policy  during  war,  123;  un- 
favorable election  (1862),  131. 

Richmond,  capital  of  Confed- 
eracy, 95 ;  capture,  190. 

Russell,  John,  Earl,  on  Civil 
War  and  slavery,  153;  be- 
lief in  Southern  success,  156 ; 
and  Trent  affair,  166;  on 
Alabama,  170,  179;  and 
mediation,  172,  173;  and 
Confederate  rams,  180. 

Russell,  W.  H.,  on  Union 
troops,  108;  as  correspond- 
ent of  Times,  157;  account 
of  slave  auction,  158;  mis- 
taken ostracism  for  account 
of  Bull  Run,  159,  160;  and 
Lincoln,  161. 

Saturday  Review,  belief  in 
Southern  success,  1.56. 

Savannah,  capture,  190. 

Scott,  Winfield,  on  secession, 
87n. ;  adheres  to  Union,  102. 

Secession,  threats  (1850),  16; 
of  South  Carolina.  65-68; 
defence  of  slavery  as  reason 
for,  66,  78,  80;  progress, 
popular  initiative,  77;  con- 
stitutional basis,  78-80 ;  polit- 
ical inexpediency,  80,  87; 
attitude  of  North,  87-89; 
action  of  V'irginia,  95;  of 
other  border  States,  95. 

Senate,  sectional  equilibrium, 
11,  43,  55. 

Seven  Pines,  battle,  115. 

Seward,  W.  U.,  and  formation 


of  Republican  party,  28; 
and  Douglas  (1858),  46; 
irrepressible-conflict  speech, 
55;  and  nomination  for 
President  (1860),  61,  63; 
and  compromise  (1861),  69, 
70,  72;  and  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  126. 

Sharpo's  rifles  for  Kansas,  34. 

Sheridan,  P.  H.,  as  general, 
182. 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  as  general, 
182 ;  Atlanta  campaign,  189 ; 
march  to  the  sea,  190; 
CaroUna  campaign,  191. 

Shiloh,  battle.  112. 

Silver,  free  coinage  controversy, 
4. 

Slavery,  as  cause  of  Civil  War, 
2-7,  76,  80,  136.  153;  early 
Southern  opponents,  6,  12; 
theories  of  territorial,  7; 
losing  game,  10;  effect  on 
Southern  population,  10 ;  and 
Mexican  war,  11 ;  balance  in 
Senate,  11,  43,  55;  effect  of 
cotton  gin,  12;  as  blessing, 
13 ;  effect  of  abolitionists,  13 ; 
character  of  large  slave- 
holders, 14-16,  86;  Com- 
promise of  1850,  16,  21; 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  17; 
effect  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin, 
19-21 ;  Missouri  Compromise, 
21 ;  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill, 
repeal  of  Missouri  Com- 
promise, 23-27 ;  and  forma- 
tion of  Republican  party, 
27-23;  Kansas  contest,  31- 
36,  43-45;  Republican  plat- 
form on  territorial  (1856), 
39;  (1860),  63;  Dred  Scott 
opinion,  right  in  territories, 
41-43;  Lincoln-Douglas  de- 
bates, 49-55;  Davis's  de- 
mand for  protection  of,  in 
territories,    55;     desire    for 


INDEX 


205 


tropical  annexations,  5.') ;  at- 
tempt to  revive  slave-trade, 
56;  Harper's  Ferry  raid, 
56-59;  meaning  of  Lincoln's 
election  65;  defence  of,  as 
reason  for  secession,  66,  78, 
80;  proposed  compromise  on 
territorial  (1861),  70-75;  in- 
ability of  Republicans  to 
injure  established,  80;  Con- 
federate Constitution  on,  81- 
83 ;  as  corner-stone  of  Con- 
federacy, 84;  difficulty  of 
Southern  abolition,  85-87 ; 
Congress  passes  amendment 
to  guarantee,  in  States,  88; 
Lincoln's  study  of  public 
opinion  on,  121 ;  abolished 
in  territories  and  District  of 
Columbia,  122;  policy  of 
gradual  compensated  eman- 
cipation, 122-125,  134n.,  136- 
138,  182n. ;  logical  develop- 
ment of  Republican  policy 
concerning,  123;  Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation,  125-128, 
131-136;  fidelity  of  slaves 
during  war,  135n. ;  military 
advantages  to  South,  135n. ; 
negro  troops  in  Union  army, 
136;  British  attitude,  152, 
158,  167,  175.  177. 

Slave-trade,  foreign,  prohibited, 
12 ;  attempt  to  revive  foreign, 
56 ;  Confederate  prohibition 
of  foreign,  82;  W.  H.  Russell 
on  slave  auction,  158. 

Slidell,  John,  Trent  affair, 
162-166. 

Smith,  Goldwin,  on  cotton 
famine,  156. 

South  Carolina,  nullification, 
3 ;  and  election  of  Lincoln, 
secession,  65-68;  economic 
effects  of  secession,  67. 

Speaker  contest  in  House  of 
Representatives    (1859),   bd. 


Spectator,  sympathy  for  the 
North,  161. 

Spurgeon,  C.  H.,  and  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation,  175. 

Stanton,  E.  M.,  and  Peninsular 
campaign,  115;  and  second 
Bull  Run,  117;  at  cabinet 
meeting  on  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  127. 

Stephens,  A.  H.,  on  slavery  as 
corner-stone  of  Confederacy, 
84. 

Stowe,  Harriet  Boecher,  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin,  19-21. 

Stubbs,  William,  on  great  men 
in  conflict,  195n. 

Sumner,  Charles,  Brooks's  as- 
sault on,  36-38;  on  Chan- 
cellorsville,  145n. ;  and  Trent 
affair,  163. 

Sumter,  Fort,  attack  and  sur- 
render, 90. 

Supreme  Court,  Dred  Scott 
opinion,  41-43;  unfavorable 
to  Republican  party  (1861), 
80. 

Tanet,  R.  B.,  Dred  Scott 
opinion,  41. 

Tariff,  and  Civil  War,  3,  82, 
154 ;  and  nullification,  3. 

Taylor,  Tom,  on  Lincoln,  192n. 

Territories,  theory  of  slavery 
in,  7;  Missouri  Compromise, 
21 ;  repeal  of  Compromise, 
popular  sovereignty,  23,  25; 
Republican  platform  on 
slavery  (1856),  39;  (1860), 
03 ;  Dred  Scott  opinion,  right 
of  slavery  in,  41 ;  Davis's 
demand  for  protection  of 
slavery  in,  55;  proposed 
restoration  of  Missouri  Com- 
promise, 71,  74;  slavery 
abolished  in,  122. 

Thomas,  G.  ~l.,  adheres  to 
Union,  102 ;  as  general,  182. 


V 

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206 


INDEX 


Trenf  affair,  seizure  by  Wilkps, 
161 ;  Northern  rejoining  over, 
162,  163;  Lincoln  and,  16:i; 
mistake  in  not  immediately 
releasing  prisoners,  164  ;  Brit- 
ish demands,  165 ;  release  of 
prisoners,  166 ;  effect  on 
public  opinion,  166-168. 

TroUope,  Anthony,  on  McClel- 
lan,  108. 

Twain,  Mark,  humor,  130. 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  effect, 
17-21. 

VlCKSBURO       CAMPAIGN,        148- 

151 ;    as  decisive  event,  151, 

181. 
Virginia,  and  Peace  Congress, 

75 ;  secession,  95. 
Virginia    campaign    of     1864, 

186-188. 

Wabd,  Artemus,  Lincoln's  de- 


light in,  127,  129;  character 
of  humor,  129. 

Washington,  threatened  by 
Jackson  (1862),  115;  Early's 
raid,  188. 

Webster,  Daniel,  on  effect  of 
abolitionists,  13 ;  Compro- 
mise of  1850,  16. 

Welles,  Gideon,  on  Lincoln  and 
restoration  of  MoClellan  to 
command,  119n. ;  on  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation,  128n. ; 
on  McClellan's  inacti\-ity, 
138n. ;  on  Chancellorsville, 
145w. ;  on  Gettysburg  cam- 
paign, 146n. ;  and  Trent 
affair,  163 ;  despondency 
(1864),  188n. 

Whig  party  and  formation  of 
Republican  party,  28. 

Whitman,  Walt,  on  assassina- 
tion of  Lincoln,  192. 

Wilkes,  Charles,  Trent  affair, 
161-163. 


This  Index  waa  made  for  me  by  David  M.  Matteson. 


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